Let me start by saying that I believe we are at the tipping point for ecommerce in South Africa. A surge in ecommerce startups and growing user adoption of ecommerce (in all its shapes and sizes) leads me to believe that ecommerce is growing at a rapid pace.

Look local – the entrepreneurs are there
I spent an hour today with 2 entrepreneurs which after refelection makes me proud to one use their product and being able to spend time with them was something pretty amazing. Remember, doing a startup is not a designers jacket or a label but rather a battle. Everyday contains a million things that can go wrong and you are constantly focusing on making sure the wheels continue to turn. Having spent 2 years in the trenches with 2 entrepreneurs I can tell you it is not glamorous at all. In actual fact, I look back at 2 years as life education and no one can take that away from me. (Thanks Kevin and Onno, you made an impact and changed my life).

Lets be honest, starting any businesses is tough but an ecommerce subscription business in South Africa is a challenge fit for a team (minimum of 10 skilled individuals in my opinion) with considerable funding. There are more challenges facing these businesses; Smaller adoption rates, logistics and main stream ecommerce taking away users’ buying potential.

Jaco Schoeman and Philippa Mitchell Husband are the co-founders of The Ooh! Box, a subscription commerce business. Users pay a monthly fee and they then put together a box (that contains incredible value) every month.  It is a subscription ecommerce business that focus on a specific vertical (wine and artisan goods). Think about it as winning the lottery every month, I can honestly say that since May 2012 The Ooh! Box has exceeded every expectation I have for an ecommerce business. There is one company that is mass market that delivers like this business and that is Amazon.com (more on that in a bit).

Let me frank, Jaco and Phillipa have a passion in them that I have not seen in a local ecommerce (excluding the PriceCheck team whom are working on amazing things..) business in a while. One, they manage expectation like I have not seen anywhere.

What defines a good business from a great one?

• Execution – the business that users enjoy and use. It starts with the personal touches (every member has a unique ID, disclaimer I am OOH311) and how they package their offering. The box which is delivered is literally from an Ogilvy marketing book. It communicates a feeling of exclusivity and their identity.
•  The packaging of the bottles is in colours that matches their logo. The point I am trying to make is that the entire box is a carefully managed process. Initially, when I became a member I had concerns. Well, Jaco and Philippa are the real deal, it really is as simple as that. The Ooh! Box has both surprised and made me happy.
• The best businesses are customer centric. Amazon.com is arguably the ecommerce company that makes the entire would focus more on their customers. Zappos is exactly the same. Imagine the surprise that I got when one – my emails were being answered by the founders (yes, I know that they are the cap wearers that do everything.) Every single email since then was answered by either Jaco or Philippa. Customer service is extremely important to them and doing the right thing for their paying users are extremely important to them. It is evident in the recent service announcement they made. They are not trying to make more money from their users but rather want to ensure that they can provide curated products that do wow their users.
• Long term vision. It is clear that they have a long term vision. Organic growth to ensure a sustainable business seems to be the end game.

The thing for me over the last 5 months has been, how do you continue to provide a high level service to your paying customers? Well, by default you exceed every possible expectation but with a subscription commerce startup that is ratcheted up a notch. This single point is one of the reasons why I respect both of these entrepreneurs.

The Ooh! Box business:

Monthly box filled with unique curated products + concierge like customer care = happy customers which lead to brand exposure in a highly profitable part of the South African consumer buying power for all of the suppliers.

Our conversation today made me realise that once every now and then, those of us that are employed in ecommerce businesses should reach out and meet with startups that are close to you geographically. These folks are in a race that pretty much never ends – rinse wash – rinse wash repeat. (Think about it, it is a time in which battle stories are told.)

In terms of the future, I believe The Ooh! Box is a company to watch (it would help if you go and pay for a subscription, to experience the service first hand). I am aware of some of the things that they have planned for the coming months in terms of future plans etc but I am not going to disclose any of it as I think it is not appropriate. Stay tuned as exciting things are planned…

Subscription commerce in South Africa has a leader and it is run by 2 entrepreneurs whom are leading us all into a new ecosystem called curated commerce (that is a post for another day).  The Ooh! Box is without a doubt in a very interesting vertical – one definitely to keep an eye.

One other thing –  I am a teetotaller. That should indicate how big of an impact the business has made.

In the interest of disclosure: I am a fully paid member of The Ooh! Box and have received no additional value / service in writing this post. It is my opinion based on a 5 month relationship between the business and myself.

Update: Apologies to one of the founders, in my excitement to get this posted, I incorrectly spelled the name of Philippa Husband Mitchell. Apologies Philippa, I hope you can forgive me.