Takealot delivers Heritage in South Africa’s own languages.
Understanding not only your business, but your market and who they are will always be the best way to stay on top of your game and remain relevant in business. And this time, Takealot is showing just how well it understands South Africa and its heritage.
For Heritage Month 2026, the homegrown e-commerce giant has made a bold change to one of the most recognizable parts of its brand, its name.
For the first time in its 15-year history, Takealot is replacing its familiar name on delivery boxes with translations representing South Africa’s 12 official languages. The campaign began on 1 September, turning something as ordinary as receiving an online order into a small celebration of language, identity and belonging.
South Africans opening their deliveries during September could therefore be greeted by names such as “Vatbaie”, “Tsayagolegontsi” and “Thath’okuningi” instead of the Takealot branding they have become accustomed to seeing.
It is a clever marketing move, but perhaps its biggest strength is that it goes beyond marketing.
Takealot delivers Heritage in South Africa’s own languages.
In a country as culturally and linguistically diverse as South Africa, language carries identity. It tells stories about where people come from, how they communicate and how they see themselves. By temporarily surrendering one of its most valuable brand assets, its name, Takealot is putting its customers and their languages at the centre of its Heritage Month campaign.
Takealot Chief Marketing Officer Karla Levick acknowledged just how significant that decision is, describing a company logo as one of its most valuable possessions. She said the business had chosen, for the first time in 15 years, to replace it with something even more important: the languages of the people who helped build the business. That sentiment is important.
South African consumers do not simply want businesses to sell to them. Increasingly, brands have an opportunity to understand the communities in which they operate and communicate in ways that feel relevant to people's everyday lives.
Takealot’s Heritage Month celebration does not end with the multilingual boxes either.
The company is also hosting its fifth annual Heritage Design Challenge, inviting South Africans to create a limited-edition delivery box expressing what heritage means to them. The winning design will appear on one million Takealot boxes during the festive season. The winner will receive R100,000 in Takealot vouchers, while a charity of their choice will receive a R10,000 voucher.
The campaign arrives at an interesting moment for the company. Takealot Group recently reported its first full year of profitability, with revenue increasing 18% to R16.42 billion and gross merchandise value reaching R32.85 billion. But numbers only tell one side of a successful business story. Relevance tells another.
Takealot’s Heritage Month initiative offers a useful lesson for businesses of every size: knowing what you sell is important, but knowing who you are selling to can be even more powerful.
Sometimes staying relevant does not require changing your entire business. Sometimes, even changing the name on the box can say - we see you, we understand you, and you are part of our story.
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