The company took strict precautions to ensure a smooth customer experience by introducing a fail-safe system to ensure the website could handle the increased traffic, proving successful with a 100% site availability during the full Black Friday and Cyber Monday period.
Dresses, boots and sneakers topped the list of most popular buys with the largest purchasing demographic being Gauteng with visitors up by more than 300%. Peak shopping times were recorded between 8am and midnight.
The customer service team underwent intense training and was bulked up to cater for increased call traffic, keeping the call waiting time to an average of 20 seconds which is only a slight increase on its average call waiting time of 8 seconds.
“We anticipated the heavy volume of on-site shoppers and customer phone calls for the Black Friday sale and wanted to make sure our customers could enjoy the deals hassle-free, so we carried out extensive stress-testing on all infrastructure ahead of time,” says Sascha Breuss, CEO of Zando.
“The high number of sales made through the Zando fashion app highlighted the upward trend of mobile shopping. The shift in South Africa toward mobile shopping has been a slow one but, with the site’s various safe online payment methods, as well as its unique cash on delivery footprint, this convenient way of purchasing is paving the way forward for an exciting future in retail and technology.”
According to the latest BankservAfrica Disposable Salary Index 1 (BDSI), the nominal year-on-year difference for the average South African take-home salaries increased by 3.5%. However, when considering inflation, actual real disposable salaries declined for the fifth month in a row, the longest period of decline on record.
“We understand it is tough for the South African consumer, so we try and introduce savings where possible. We also offer free delivery and full refunds for products returned,” concludes Breuss.
Zando won Best Mobile Shopping Experience and Best Overall Shopping Experience at this year’s PriceCheck Tech and E-Com Awards. For more information, go to www.zando.co.za.
