Cybercellar
signs venture capital deal with Silvertree Capital
SA’s
biggest online wine retailer expects bumper e-tailing period for 2013
Cape Town, December 2013: In the run-up to the festive season, South Africa’s biggest online
wine retailer, Cybercellar.com, has
announced a deal with business builder and venture capital investor Silvertree
Capital, which has acquired a 24% stake in the business.
This investment will enable the
15-year-old online wine merchant to penetrate the hugely untapped middle market
segment and cement the business as an online market leader.
Johann van Tonder, CEO of
Cybercellar.com, says that despite the capital investment, the injection of
e-commerce expertise will drive this growth. “Silvertree Capital has vast
experience in scaling growth to high levels in a short period of time. We are
confident that this experience and operational insight will enable us to reach
our ambitious growth plans over the next few years.”
Manuel
Koser, co-founder of Silvertree Capital and co-founder of runaway success
online retailer zando.co.za, says the decision to invest in Cybercellar was
based on its human capital: “E-commerce is a very complicated field and success needs a strong team of
experienced people that are committed to deliver excellent performance for
customers. Cybercellar has the right combination of talented people and
operational success, illustrated by the fact that the business has grown with a
five-fold revenue increase in the last year and a half.”
The deal with Silvertree Capital includes an option to purchase a
further 15% shareholding should Cybercellar need more capital to grow. “We are
committed to making this a big success story and our vision is to become the
online market leader in alcoholic beverages in South Africa,” says Koser.
Established in 1998, Cybercellar.com is one of only two original South
African internet retailers (the other being kalahari.com) still in business. What
started out as a small, family-run lifestyle business 15 years ago has now
become the market leader in the online wine retail space.
Van Tonder and his team joined the
business 18 months ago and Cybercellar has since experienced massive revenue
growth and a 300% increase in customers. Van Tonder attributes this
success to the re-engineering of the business together with the organic
e-commerce growth experienced over the past year. In March this year Van Tonder
and business partner David Muller took over the business following a management
buy-out.
“This is just the start of the
projected growth. Although the domestic e-commerce market is still
predominantly high-end focussed, with the increase in access to infrastructure,
broadband and mobile data networks are growing. More and more consumers are now
opting for online purchases due to the convenience factor. Convenience is even
more pronounced when ordering wine online, as customers can enjoy choosing a
wide selection of wines all in one place. Orders are delivered free of charge
to major centres and there is no carting around of heavy boxes,” he says.
E-commerce currently contributes less than 1% to the retail sector in
SA, but is growing by between 30% and 40%. According to Koser, there is no
question that South Africa will follow the UK experience, where e-commerce now
makes up 12% of the retail sector. “It is just a question of time. At scale,
e-commerce is a more competitive model than formal retail and Cybercellar is
well positioned to become the alcoholic beverage e-tailer of choice.”
Cybercellar is preparing for a
bumper season and expects Cyber Monday – the term given by international
marketers to the Monday following Thanksgiving in the USA – to be the start of
the busiest e-tailing period for 2013. To mark the occasion, Cyber Monday sees
the launch of a Christmas calendar with 24 specials to be released every day
until 25 December 2013.
Cyber Monday has become a global
phenomenon and the biggest online shopping day of the year. “This is also true
locally and the first Monday in December has seen a marked spike in online
shopping activity as South Africans get ready for the holiday season. The first
two weeks of December usually see a significant increase in online shopping,
which tapers down after the public holiday on 16 December, as many South
Africans start going on leave,” says Van Tonder.
Cybercellar currently offers over 3
800 different South African wines and in the next three months aims to double
this figure. From early next year, Cybercellar also plans to expand its already
large selection of top-selling international wines, providing more choice and
variety for its customers. It recently diversified its offering by giving
customers the choice of purchasing craft beers.
For more information or to stock up on wine for the festive
season, visit www.cybercellar.com
Ends
About Cybercellar.com
Established in
1998, Cybercellar.com was the first online retailer of South African wines. It
is one of only two original South African internet retailers (the other being
kalahari.com) still in business. What started out as a small family run
lifestyle business 15 years ago has now become the market leader in the online
wine retail space.
A recent deal with South African-based business builder and
venture capital investor, Silvertree Capital, will enable the online wine
merchant to achieve its ambitious growth plans over the next few years.
Cybercellar offers
the widest selection of South African wines at cellar door prices. Delivery to
main centres is free for orders of 12 bottles or more. Average time from order
to delivery is 2 - 4 days depending on your region.
Cybercellar is currently the ‘Best South African Online Wine Retailer’, as voted by the prestigious international magazine, Meininger's Wine Business International