Privacy Policy

Version 2.0 · Effective 15 July 2026

1. Who we are

This Policy explains how ShelfRocket ("ShelfRocket", "we", "us") collects, uses, shares and protects your personal information when you use the ShelfRocket platform for Takealot sellers (the "Service").

We are the responsible party under the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 ("POPIA") for the personal information described here.

You can contact us about this Policy, to exercise your rights, or to complain, at hello@shelfrocket.co.za or 087 265 3908. Our designated Information Officer can be reached at the same address.

2. Scope and what personal information means

"Personal information" means information relating to an identifiable living natural person and, where applicable, an identifiable existing juristic person, as defined in POPIA.

We do not knowingly process special personal information (such as race, health, religious or biometric data) or the personal information of children, and the Service is not directed at children. Please do not submit such information.

We do not collect the personal information of your customers (Takealot shoppers). Our systems record marketplace order references and financial amounts for your reporting, but not the names, addresses or contact details of the people who buy from you.

3. What we process, and why (POPIA s11 lawful basis)

We only process personal information where we have a lawful basis:

CategoryExamplesPurposeBasis (s11)
Account & identityName, email, avatarCreate and run your accountContract (b); consent (a)
Contact detailsPhone / WhatsApp number, opt-in flagService alerts and (if opted in) WhatsApp notificationsContract (b); consent (a)
Business & tax detailsCompany name, address, VAT number, registration number, tax referenceGenerate SARS-compliant invoices and stock-loss documentsContract (b); legal obligation (c)
Marketplace account infoTakealot seller ID, shop nameConnect and sync your Takealot accountContract (b)
Marketplace API credentialsTakealot Seller API key/secret (encrypted)Read your data and, where enabled, submit permitted actionsContract (b)
Commercial dataSKUs, cost prices, margins, sales, fees, P&LResearch, repricing, margin and reporting featuresContract (b)
Payment dataPayFast tokens, transaction records (no card numbers)Billing and financial recordsContract (b); legal obligation (c)
Usage & analyticsFeature usage, events, credit usage, price-change logsOperate, secure, bill and improve the ServiceLegitimate interests (f)
CommunicationsEmail/WhatsApp content and delivery metadataSend and log transactional and (opted-in) marketing messagesContract (b); consent (a)
Team members’ dataInvited staff name, email, avatar, roleMulti-seat access administrationContract (b)
Referral / partner dataPartner name, contact, referral code, payout detailsOperate the referral programme and pay partnersContract (b); legal obligation (c)
Marketing / leadsWaitlist email, interview-participant nameProduct updates, waitlist, research (with consent)Consent (a)
Other sellers’ public identifiersBuy Box holder names from public Takealot pages (hashed)Competitive benchmarking and market analysisLegitimate interests (f)
Technical & securityIP address, device/user-agent, error diagnosticsSecurity, fraud/abuse prevention, debuggingLegitimate interests (f); (c)
Consent recordsTerms/Privacy acceptance, version, timestampEvidence of your consent and re-consentLegal obligation / (f)

Where we rely on legitimate interests (f), we have weighed those interests against your rights and will provide our assessment on request; you may object to that processing. Where we rely on consent (a), you may withdraw it at any time without affecting processing already carried out, and core account processing may continue on the "contract" basis.

4. Direct marketing

We send transactional messages (billing, alerts, security) as part of the Service. We send marketing messages only where POPIA s69 permits — with your consent, or to existing customers about similar products where you have not opted out. Every marketing message includes an unsubscribe option, and you can manage preferences in your account settings.

5. Where your information is stored — international transfers (POPIA s72)

Please be aware: although ShelfRocket is a South African service for South African sellers, our main database is hosted in the European Union (Ireland), and several of our service providers process personal information outside South Africa, including in the European Union and the United States. A South African hosting region is not currently available from our database provider.

We transfer personal information across borders only where POPIA s72 permits — relying on one or more of: (a) the recipient being bound by a law or a binding agreement providing an adequate, substantially-similar level of protection with onward-transfer restrictions; (b) your consent; and (c) the transfer being necessary to perform our contract with you. We put data-processing agreements in place with our sub-processors requiring POPIA-consistent protection.

By using the Service you consent to these international transfers. If you do not consent, please do not use the Service, as we cannot provide it without these providers.

ProviderPurposeLocation
SupabasePrimary database, authenticationEU (Ireland)
VercelApplication hosting, serverless functionsUS / global edge
Anthropic (Claude)AI featuresUS
OpenAIAI features (where used)US
ResendTransactional emailUS
TwilioSMS / WhatsApp alertsUS
PostHogProduct analyticsUS
SentryError monitoringUS
PayFastPayment processingSouth Africa
ScrapingbeeMarket-data retrievalEU / US

6. How we protect your information (POPIA s19)

We use technical and organisational safeguards including: encryption of sensitive credentials at rest (secure vault), row-level security so each account only accesses its own data, access controls and least-privilege service roles, encrypted connections, audit logging, and monitoring.

No system is perfectly secure. If a security compromise affecting your personal information occurs, we will notify the Information Regulator and affected data subjects as required by POPIA s22.

7. How long we keep your information

  • Account and commercial data: for the life of your account and up to 12 months after closure, unless a longer period is required.
  • Financial and tax records (invoices, transactions): at least five years, as required by South African tax law.
  • Consent records: for the life of the account plus a reasonable evidentiary period.
  • Marketing data: until you opt out or withdraw consent.
  • Scraped public market data: for as long as it is useful for analysis; competitor-seller identifiers are minimised or hashed.

On request we delete or de-identify personal information we are not legally required to keep.

8. Your rights under POPIA

You have the right to: access the personal information we hold about you (s23); correct or delete inaccurate, irrelevant, excessive or unlawfully held information (s24); object to processing based on legitimate interests or for direct marketing (s11(3), s69); withdraw consent where we rely on it; not be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing that has legal or similarly significant effects, without safeguards (s71); and complain to the Information Regulator.

To exercise any right, contact us at hello@shelfrocket.co.za or 087 265 3908, or use the in-account data tools where available. We respond within a reasonable time and may verify your identity first.

Information Regulator (South Africa): enquiries@inforegulator.org.za · POPIAComplaints@inforegulator.org.za

9. Automated processing and the auto-repricer

The auto-repricer makes automated price changes based on rules you set. It does not make decisions that produce legal effects concerning you as a person; it acts on your commercial listings under your configuration. You can pause or disable it at any time, and can use shadow mode before activating a rule. The Terms of Service (clause 12) explain your responsibilities and the risks.

10. Cookies and tracking

We use strictly-necessary cookies to run the Service, and analytics cookies (via PostHog) to understand usage. You can control non-essential cookies through your browser and through our Cookie Policy.

11. Changes to this Policy

We may update this Policy. For material changes we will give reasonable notice and, where required, ask you to re-accept. We keep a versioned record of acceptances.

12. Contact

You may also lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator if you believe your personal information has been misused.