SOUTH AFRICA – Makro is partnering with Sasol and McDonald’s for the roll-out of the “pick-up lockers” concept at selected Sasol petrol stations and McDonald’s fast food outlets.

Makro has so far launched five of these lockers — the first such lockers in South-Africa.

Pick-up lockers are pick-up points where products purchased by customers online can be collected. Customers can have their products delivered to a collection locker of their choice. They can then collect their goods at their chosen pick-up point by entering an SMS code on a touch screen interface at the locker.

Speaking at the launch of a pick-up locker at Sasol’s Rivonia petrol station on Friday, Makro CEO Doug Jones said the project was currently in field-testing stages and that five additional lockers would be rolled out over the next few weeks to support the five which were already in place around Gauteng. Five would be placed at Sasol ‘forecourts’, four at selected McDonald’s outlets, and one at Makro Woodmead in Johannesburg.

“It is about improving access for our customer’s to our offering… Along with complementing our online, ‘click-and-collect’, and home delivery (service),” Mr Jones said on Friday.

Makro’s few outlets are notoriously inaccessible due to the size of the warehouse retailer’s stores, resulting in their relative geographical isolation.

“At Sasol we pride ourselves on our innovative spirit and are thus delighted to be associated with Makro on this unique and convenient initiative,” Sasol’s Mohamed Carrim Head of Retail at Southern African Energy said at the launch on Friday.

With 20,000 products available for collection, the lockers can accommodate products as big as a microwave.

Makro is also a wholesaler of alcohol but the product is currently excluded from the service.

“The law requires that you ensure that the person who places the order as well as the person who receives the order is of legal drinking age, and until we are able to solve that we won’t be allowing customers to buy and receive alcohol in this way,” said Mr Jones.

June 29, 2015; http://www.bdlive.co.za/business/retail/2015/06/26/makro-teams-up-with-sasol-mcdonalds-to-bring-pick-up-lockers-concept-to-sa