R75 more for the same product, same delivery window and the same order deadline. That is what was sitting on my screen while shopping for an Epson 103 EcoTank four-pack on the Takealot app.
There were two offers in the buying panel. The one on top was R766 and labelled “Fastest Delivery”. Underneath it sat the “Best Price” offer at R691.
Both said “Get it Today, 1pm – 7pm”, yet the more expensive option was selected by default as seen in the screenshot I captured, and R766 was the price shown above the Add to Cart button. There was no faster delivery to explain the extra money.
What exactly does the extra R75 buy
Paying more to get something sooner is an easy enough decision to understand. If your printer is out of ink and you need documents this afternoon, tomorrow’s bargain might be of no use to you.
But that was not the choice this page appeared to offer. Both options said “Get it Today, 1pm – 7pm” while showing the same countdown to the order deadline. Going on the delivery information visible, the cheaper option was in every sense the better deal, yet for reasons I am yet to understand, Takealot decided it didn’t deserve first spot in the buy box.
R75 works out to roughly 10.9% on top of R691. That is the premium attached to the default selected offer, with no visible improvement in the promised delivery times.
Now if I’m being generous, there could be differences outside the screenshot with both offers having a “T&Cs Apply” link, but seriously now, the buy box is the information a shopper has in front of them when choosing between these two prices.
And that information does not explain why the more expensive one deserves the fastest delivery label.
The order of the offers matters
MyBroadband reported that Takealot is again putting offers with faster delivery first in its main buying panel, commonly called the Buy Box, with the cheapest offer below. The report connected the change to competition between sellers holding local stock and importers with longer delivery times. Takealot had not explained the change to the publication by its deadline.
That provides context for the layout. It does not explain this particular example, where the delivery windows match.
The cheaper price is visible. Nobody has to dig through several pages to find it. But the more expensive offer occupies the top position and carries a blue label telling the shopper it has a delivery advantage. In this screesnshot we took, it is also the option feeding the Add to Cart price.
That combination deserves a bit of scrutiny. Someone shopping quickly could reasonably read “Fastest Delivery” as a reason to pay more, without noticing that the cheaper alternative underneath carries exactly the same arrival window.
One screenshot raises a specific question
This is just one example and I don’t claim it establishes how often matching delivery windows appear with different prices, or what rules Takealot uses to rank offers when the displayed delivery times are the same. It also does not establish why the higher-priced option was selected.
The question for Takealot here is quite specific: when two offers display the same delivery window and order deadline, what determines which one gets the “Fastest Delivery” label, and which price is selected?
If the system distinguishes between them using information the shopper cannot see, that difference needs explaining. If both qualify as equally fast, the cheaper offer has an obvious claim to the top position.
A delivery label should help someone make a decision. Here, it introduces a distinction that the delivery details beneath it do not support.
Check the date on the cheaper offer
For now, take a moment to compare both options before adding the item to your cart. Look at the arrival window and order deadline together, then check whether changing the offer changes the price at the bottom of the screen.
Takealot’s terms say delivery charges appear at checkout and advise checking the estimated delivery date there for the most accurate information. That final check is iimportant, especially if your address, order contents or chosen offer changes.
I would still pay more for earlier delivery when I needed it. But on this Epson listing, both offers promised the same afternoon but gave me a R75 reason to choose the cheaper one and no logical reason to do otherwise.
