PriceCheck used to be little more than an aggregator that tech journos and tech-savvy, consummate consumers used to compare prices on various products, often before buying them elsewhere, offline. Now the service has added the option to actually buy and pay for goods via its site, and collect said goods at Pargo collection points around South Africa.
The service isn’t limited to online retailers, so bricks and mortar outlets can enjoy some of the benefits of e-commerce without having to worry about those pesky details like facilitating payments and fulfilment. PriceCheck is particularly focused on enabling all of this from mobile devices — a sensible move given how much of South Africa isn’t just mobile first, but mobile only.
Consumers can browse PriceCheck’s catalogue using its app (available for Android, BlackBerry, iOS and Windows Phone) or via its mobile-friendly website, pay for goods using mobile payment solution SnapScan and then choose the most convenient Pargo collection point for delivery. Fancy. And no more missing the courier.
There’s a flat rate of R49 for Pargo deliveries, but consumers don’t see this as it’s factored into the cost of the products supporting the initiative. Currently only two of PriceCheck’s retailers, Tangled — which sells technology products — and hair-product retailer Clipinhair have signed up for the new initiative, but a range of additional retailers are set to come on in the weeks ahead, according to PriceCheck’s head of marketing, Christine da Silva.
In case you’ve recently returned from a stint stranded on a desert island, SnapScan is a payment app that lets users scan a QR code and pay for goods using their mobile phones. The app securely stores the user’s credit card details and bills the card for each transaction. We’re such big fans of SnapScan at Stuff Towers we got the cafe downstairs to sign up so we can still get that all-important morning coffee even if we’ve left our wallets at home.
Pargo, meanwhile, has parcel lockers at numerous Caltex service stations and 7Eleven supermarkets around South Africa and in a number of independent retailers. You can find a full list of its parcel points here.
