Hi!
Just today I had to go and collect some goodies from a supplier that didn’t offer a delivery option – which got me thinking about the real cost of buying online vs from a real brick and mortar store.
In this particular example my supplier does not offer the ability to purchase online, nor to have the goods delivered – although I was able to place my order on the telephone, did an Electronic Funds Transfer and then called them to make sure that they had received my payment and that my order was ready for collection – which it was. Nevertheless I still had to wait 20 minutes after I arrived to get my invoice – surely they could have emailed it to me, right? – and then for them to pick the stock and bring it to me.
Now my supplier is exactly 21.3 Km from our offices – so the roundtrip was a total of 42.6 Km – and that’s when it struck me that there are some real benefits (not least of which saving time and money) when shopping online.
Let me highlight some of those differences.
Firstly the actual cost of driving my car a shade over 42 Km – which if I take a really conservative rate of R 2.00 / Km that trip cost me at least R 84.00
Then there was the time taken to drive there and back – in off-peak hours mind – it still took me about half an hour there and half an hour back, plus the 20 minutes waiting for the paperwork and the goods to be brought to me, totalling 1 hour and 20 minutes. Now even if I don’t value my time all that much (and I do!) and work on a conservative R 100 / hour for my time then that trip cost me R 133.
Couple that with the actual travel cost (and I’m not even going to factor any lost productivity while I was travelling / stuck in traffic) I incurred a real cost to me of R 84.00 + R 133.00 = R 217.00!
Now if I contrast that to the cost of buying (for example) my party supplies from my favourite online party store (hint – MyPartySupplies) where the average cost of delivery inside of Gauteng is a mere R 49.00 and to major center’s like Cape Town and Durban delivery starts from R 130.00 then there are some real savings to be had from buying online. I’m talking saving money. Cash. Moola. Bucks!
Now that alone is a compelling reason for buying your party supplies online – remember we deliver anywhere in South Africa (if you are in Johanesburg there is a collection option if you prefer) and with the exception of destinations like Twee Buffels met Twee-Skote Gemis Fontein your goodies are generally at your door in 2 – 3 working days!
Now that’s smart!
Grab your kids party supplies from your favourite online store now – we are open for orders 24 hours a day 365 days of the year!\
