COVID-19 has forced many business and customers alike to embrace the internet for selling and purchasing of products. Schweppes is one of those companies that have made the plunge and their website now has an eCommerce section allowing interested parties to buy online and get their loot directly delivered to them.
Before we talk about the new eCommerce section let’s talk about the redesigned website. From my time browsing through it, all the sections pretty much have useful information that make the website a destination.
About Us – This section has a pretty interesting history that I didn’t know I would enjoy flicking through but I did. A nice touch I appreciated. They also include the board of directors and what the company does.
The Latest News section has some blog posts related to the company which will probably be of use to investors and not ordinary consumers. There’s also a product section which looks at each product on offer and suggests occasions on which to take that specific product.
Another nice touch is the sustainability page which most local companies don’t care to include on their websites. Schweppes could do better and offer a more up to date than the 2017 Sustainability report which is on this page but I won’t knock them too much since they actually have this in the first place.
My one gripe with the website is that it takes its sweet time when loading and sometimes won’t load pages, instead offering an error message.
eCommerce
The Shop section allows consumers to order directly from Schweppes and you can buy a host of products including the following;
- Water
- Fruit Juices (Minute maid)
- Mazoe
- Fruitade
- Farm Style tomato paste
- Jam
Consumers can make orders in both US$ and ZW$ but I had to guess that the listing prices are in US$ since it’s not clearly labelled which currency is in use (the label is there but its a bit obscure). Delivery is free which is usually a + for consumers.
Delivery is only for those within 20KM radius of Schweppes Harare centres and 10KM of centres in Bulawayo. Those interested can also select from a number of pickup points if home delivery isn’t your thing.
One error that I found particularly frustrating was the websites failure to add products to the cart on occasion. I’m not sure if this comes to down to the fact that I use Opera and not Chrome on desktop but either way that shouldn’t be the case.
Finally, the checkout process. It’s pretty straightforward but it is a bit tenuous and I would recommend you login to avoid entering your address twice when checking out.
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