Takealot has become one of Joekels' fastest-growing sales channels - and one of its most competitive, with aggressive pricing from smaller tea brands, private labels and imported teas all fighting for the same shelf space. TDMC built and took full control of a dedicated Joekels Takealot portal, managing everything from listings and pricing to stock and promotions, with bundle listings designed to win on value rather than just price. Within 90 days of launch, sales were up between 18% and 32%. Since then, out-of-stock incidents have dropped by 80%, and July marked the brand's best month on the platform to date.
01
Executive Summary
02
Introduction
Joekels competes in a Takealot marketplace where price is often the loudest signal - smaller tea brands, private label competitors and imported teas regularly use loss-leader tactics to win short-term sales. As Takealot grew into a critical channel for the business, it needed more than passive management. It needed a dedicated strategy built specifically for how the platform actually behaves.
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The Problem
The marketplace runs on discounting.
Aggressive, often loss-leading pricing from smaller and private-label competitors meant Joekels was competing in a category where price pressure never really lets up.
Customers had been trained to wait for deals.
Takealot shoppers are conditioned to buy on promotion, and high-performing SKUs often show real promo elasticity - sales can drop sharply the moment a discount disappears, making pricing strategy a constant balancing act.
The channel demanded continuous, hands-on attention.
Listings, pricing, inventory and competitor movements shift daily on Takealot. Without consistent oversight, the channel's biggest risks - stockouts, mistimed promotions, missed deal windows - compound quickly.
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The Solution
Full control through a dedicated Takealot portal
TDMC built the Joekels Takealot portal on Tribeco, consolidating complete control over listings, stock, pricing, promotions and performance analytics into a single, dedicated system - replacing fragmented, reactive management with one clear source of control.
Bundles built for best-value perception
Rather than competing purely on lowest price, the strategy centred on bundle listings designed to win on perceived value - giving Joekels a way to compete in a discount-driven marketplace without simply racing competitors to the bottom.
Continuous, hands-on marketplace management
Managing Takealot effectively meant treating it as an active channel, not a set-and-forget listing. Pricing, inventory levels, competitor movements and deal windows were monitored continuously, with promotions and deal timing optimised based on what was actually happening in the market, not a fixed schedule.
Stock planning built around real demand patterns
Tea demand fluctuates predictably around payday periods, and stock planning was built around that reality - ensuring availability stayed strong precisely when demand was about to spike, rather than reacting after the fact.
05
Results
The portal delivered measurable impact within weeks of launch, and that momentum continued to build.
- 18–32% increase in sales within the first 90 days of launch.
- 80% reduction in out-of-stock incidents, driven by continuous stock and sales monitoring.
- A strong upward trend from February through July, with May, June and July consistently the strongest-performing months of the year.
- Q2 sales up 65% versus Q1, with Q3 standing out as the strongest quarter of the year.
- July marked Joekels' best month on Takealot to date.
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Conclusion
The Joekels Takealot portal turned a high-pressure, discount-driven marketplace into one of the brand's genuine growth engines - not by matching competitors on price alone, but by managing the channel with the consistency it demands. Sustaining that growth from here means continuing to give customers reasons to choose Joekels beyond the next discount: new flavours, smarter bundle innovation, limited editions, and wellness-focused ranges that keep the brand moving rather than just defending its position.
