In May of 2021, SovTech, a growth-driven, tech-focused software company, acquired South African e-commerce company OfficeBox. SovTech obtained the business from JSE-listed company Deneb Investments.
OfficeBox was founded in 2014 and is South Africa’s leading online stationery and office supplies retailer. OfficeBox has developed bespoke technologies and a countrywide delivery footprint that allows businesses with various locations to order a vast array of office products from a single source. Companies can place orders in as little as a few minutes by logging onto their online 30-day account on Officebox’s official website and shopping directly from their customisable favourites lists or a 6,000+ product catalog. OfficeBox is known as the easiest way to order Back2School stationery in SA and proudly boasts preferential pricing for all customers. OfficeBox proudly boasts preferential pricing for all customers. The progressive web app offers intelligent control features, such as order authorisation choices and ordering from restricted, pre-approved goods lists.
One of SovTech’s core beliefs is that every company is a software company, and that is why this acquisition compliments SovTech’s ideologies. SovTech is using innovative technology solutions to improve client experience and software functionality on the online platform. SovTech’s 9 years of engineering expertise strives to ensure that OfficeBox remains the top online office supplies and stationary company in South Africa. Furthermore, the e-commerce space has seen exponential growth over the last year, especially due to the pandemic, where brick-and-mortar businesses have been forced into digital transformation. The acquisition allows both SovTech and OfficeBox to grow significantly in this e-commerce boom.
The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the unprecedented growth surge in the digital and e-commerce sectors. As businesses around the globe were forced to digitise, e-commerce’s share of global retail trade rose from 14% to 17% in just one year. It is very likely that this uptake will be sustained in the future, as emerging economies were seen to be making the biggest shift into the e-commerce space. It is imperative that businesses in all countries harness the e-commerce potential in order to benefit from global markets.