Vassen Naicker

Digital Planet

In 1998 two young entrepreneurs, Mark Levy & Neil Watson thought that the Internet would probably be the next big thing. And while they were running their own computer IT company, they started one of South Africa's first e-tailers, selling hardware and software direct to consumers. And so, Digital Planet was born. One day, they asked, "What if other people need ecommerce sites and tech sales channels managed on their behalf? And what if we could help more people get their hands on technology?" This prompted a quick pivot after which they realised that other, more established companies could benefit from having their own e-commerce sites developed. And the main businesses that were investing in online sales platforms at the time were banks like FNB (who asked us to be their first Ebucks partner) and Standard Bank (we partnered with Blue Bean) and insurance companies like Discovery (Vitality). All of these became Digital Planet's clients and many are partners to this day. Eventually, the services side of the business was growing really fast and they decided to leave their own online retail arm to focus on building channels for big clients who wanted to enter the e-commerce space. Because the team realised that Digital Planet's true value lies in being a B2B2C enabler for big businesses like banks and telcos. Basically, helping others creating a sales channel online and managing the process on their behalf. From pressing click on the screen to ding-dong at the door, Digital Planet still manages the entire process: from the call centres to the product lifecycle, customer journey and deliveries on the client's behalf. And all these offerings are structured to make sure that Digital Planet adds value to the end-consumer by building in services or products that will make their world better.