If I were Takealot I would be worried
Disclaimer: This is an opinion piece aimed at highlighting technical agility and not promoting or demoting a specific brand.
It Started with a Waffle Maker
I recently purchased a Waffle Maker on Checkers Sixty60 and it made me think about how keeping up with change on all fronts is critical. I placed my order around midnight and at 8:30 AM the product was in my hands.
The aim of this article is to highlight the link between technical and business agility. I hope to highlight to Software Engineers and the likes the need to stay on top of things before our products or we become redundant.
I consider myself an early adopter and am usually quite keen on trying new things, particularly around technology. Sometimes to my own detriment.
My first Takealot order was on Saturday 30th September 2006 (when they were still called Take 2) I purchased three massive 1GB flash drives. Ever since then, I have seen them evolve and as an Engineer, it was great to see.
Checkers Sixty60
Checkers Sixty60 is a same-day delivery service by one of South Africa’s largest supermarkets. My first order with them was not what I expected and this was on the 20th January 2020, a little bit before the SA Lockdown. I was expecting it to be delivered within an hour but took about 3 to 4 hours. The expectation never met the delivery, even though the 3-hour wait was not unbearable.
Lockdown
Once lockdown happened many of us reduced in-store shopping and opted for online shopping. Certain items I would buy on Takealot and daily groceries on Checkers Sixty60. Other big brands had long delays with another big retailer having delivery availability only 2 weeks from my order date. This put me completely off and made me think are they not missing the boat?
So why should Takealot be worried?
To be fair Takealot works on a very different model in that it has an entire vendor programme whereas Checkers owns its inventory and has a much wider distribution system (the physical stores). At present, the product selection between the two is vastly different. I would still be cautious though.
One of the major reasons for concern would be price. It is one of the major reasons why I personally stopped buying certain products from Takealot just because of the price. The convenience factor is no longer exclusive to one company anymore.
Some proof around why pricing can become a key success indicator is the number of restaurants promoting their own apps over the traditional Mr.D or Uber Eats. Yes, they are still listed on them but it is more around advertising than profit. Utilising their own ordering system works out cheaper for the customer and results in more money in the pocket for the restaurant.
Observations
As companies grow our technology footprint grows and with that is the cost and limitations it has on the business. Startups are able to exponentially grow and adapt at a much faster pace because they do not have that extra baggage.
How do we as Software professionals keep that mindset and prevent the bloat?
- Simplicity — Keeping it simple but not as simple that we keep on adding technical debt on top of technical debt.
- Mindset — Understanding that the technology we using is not the solution or that the shiny piece of code with 100% test code coverage does not mean anything if it is not bringing value at the right time.
- Continuous Deployments — Choosing the appropriate continuous deployment strategy so that changes can be made quickly
- Trust — Trust Engineers and trust Business as well. It works both ways, in many organisations, I have seen an imbalance and this is really not useful to build great products.
Let me know your thoughts and feel free to share similar experiences you may have seen.
