SA online retailer Superbalist to retrench staff — report

Published Oct 7, 2024

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Superbalist, online fashion retailer, has informed employees that it will be planing to cut a large percentage of their staff.

A report by BusinessTech said that they received more information from people close to Superbalist that the retailer plans to retrench around 28% of their workforce.

The retrenchments will have an impact on most departments including engineering, product management, finance, design, buying and support.

One source who spoke to BusinessTech said that 75 roles will be retrenched which includes the shutting down the entire vertical design of 45 people.

The people who are linked to the retailer said that Superbalist the company plans to serve notices by December 2, 2024, following the Black Friday sales.

A different source told BusinessTech that online retailers has started markdowns of certain items in their warehouse.

Last month, the Takealot Group, owned by Naspers, announced that it would be selling Superbalist to a South African consortium of retail and private equity investors led by Blank Canvas Capital.

The transaction would be effective from September 1, 2024, according to Bizcommunity.

This announcement of the sale of Superbalist followed reports that Takealot would be selling the online retailer due to increased competition from Chinese online retailers like Shein and Temu in March.

Superbalist is an online fashion, beauty and home retailer that sells more than 450 brands from around the world.

The retailer was initially launched in 2010 which was when it was known as Citymob. In 2013 Citymob was rebranded as Superbalsit, and in 2014 Superbalist was bought by Takealot.

IOL Business