Cheryl Hunter (shelflife at marklives.com)’s weekly pick of recent product, packaging, design and food launches:
South Africa gets first ‘repeat shopping’ portal
A magical chocolate journey with Cadbury Dairy Milk [view TVC], and
24ct debuts online with gold bars, diamonds and jewellery
Out of stock? Stockbox
In response to the increase in online shopping, stockbox.co.za has launched an online shopping portal with a unique difference: ensuring that essential products, from coffee to condoms, are delivered on a repeat basis.
stockbox.co.za makes getting daily essentials simple and easy with its customisation tool. Simply put, the customer product-usage cycle allows for a more-convenient shopping experience as users can tailor orders to suit.
When adding a product to one’s cart, one is prompted to select a frequency, eg “two months”. This means the product will be delivered every two months. This is automated and one will receive an email the day before delivery as a reminder of which items are on their way.
Comments founder, Stefano Sessa, “The last-minute scramble is a challenge faced by all of us. The truth is, the vast majority of consumers are simply time-poor. It has been our goal to bring South Africans a superior and innovative online shopping portal which saves time and is delivered directly to your door, enriching the online shopping experience.”
Launched in May 2015, the top sale items so far have been classic home essentials: condoms, soap, toothpaste, toilet paper and black bags. Sessa suspects, however, that this will change over time.
Shipping for orders of a minimum of R200 or more is free, nationwide.
Mondelēz makes Marvellous Creations
Chocolate fans should be sure to head to the latest pop-up store in Sandton City, Johannesburg, this month, where being showcased is the World of Marvellous Creations — the most successful Cadbury chocolate slabs ever launched in Oz and the UK.
The two variants of Cadbury Marvellous Creations— Jelly Popping Candy and Cookie Gummy Crunch — made it onto SA’s retail shelves during May.
When the Marvellous Creations brand launched in Australia in 2012, it was the most successful confectionery launch ever, achieving 9% market share within a year. Launched a year later in the UK, repeat purchases soared and 6% market share was achieved in less than a year. Category growth accelerated from 7% in 2013 to 10% in 2014, according to Meredith Kelly, Mondelēz SA category lead for chocolate.
Inside the pop-up store, the Candy Trail allows visitors to create their own treats by mixing ingredients and smothering them in melted chocolate. The experience is topped off with a “marvellous family portrait” shared online.
Those outside of Gauteng may share their favourite combination of ingredients on www.marvellouscreations.co.za and the person with the winning combination will win his or her own Marvellous Creations chocolate, made for him or her by Cadbury.
Help share the joy on Facebook and on Twitter with @Cadbury_SA using #MyMarvellousCreations
Access to the store (open 23 May–21 June 2015, 9am–8pm daily) is easy: buy a slab of Marvellous Creations chocolate, available at retail stores for R29.99, and get automatic entry for two people.
All that glitters IS gold
24carat.co.za officially opened the virtual doors of its new luxury online boutique last week, 21 May, offering minted gold, platinum, and silver bars, diamonds, bespoke jewellery and precious keepsakes.
24carat.co.za is reportedly the first private SA platform where one can buy minted gold bars. Metal Concentrators (MetCon) — the mother company of 24carat and SA’s largest independent precious metal refinery Metcon — was the first refiner to receive a licence to manufacture and sell these items. Until 2008, it was prohibited for anyone in SA to buy or trade in these bars.
24carat.co.za also sells certified diamonds; handcrafted and bespoke jewellery, designed by some of SA’s best designers; and medallions.
Bernard Stern, co-founder of MetCon, says: “Our 10g, 50g, and 100g minted gold bars, as well as our medallions, are made of 99.99% pure gold, which is the equivalent of 24 carat and the highest level of gold purity one can get. To compare, Kruger Rands are only 91.67% gold, or 22 carat.”
He stresses that the gold used for 24ct.’s assortment of bars, jewellery, and medallions is ‘honest’ gold: “Metcon’s core business is the recycling and refining of precious metals such as gold.
“Last year, the Responsible Jewellery Council awarded us a double responsible practices certification. This means that the gold we are working with is mostly recycled and guaranteed free of conflict and human rights abuse. So, apart from buying something beautiful that will stand the test of time, you are purchasing something that is ethically and morally sound.”
As part of the bar range on offer, 24ct. is also offering 99.9% silver and 99.95% platinum bars. Go to 24carat.co.za or join the conversation on Facebook.com and on Twitter @24ctZA with #OutofAfrica.
Shelf Life is MarkLives.com’s weekly column covering new product, packaging, design and food launches. Notify us of yours at shelflife at marklives dot com. Want to sponsor Shelf Life? Contact us here.
Cheryl Hunter (@cherylhunter) has written for the South African media, marketing and advertising industries for more than 15 years. A former editor of M&M in Independent Newspapers and contributor to Bizcommunity, AdFocus, AdReview and the Ad Annual, she has also produced for various television networks and currently consults on communication strategy and media liaison.
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