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Big plans for smaller Makro stores in South African shopping malls

Massmart will be trialling small format Makro stores in four locations, and if successful, the concept will be rolled out to other locations.

Read more on My Broadband

Checkers sweeps Pick n Pay as it opens 5 new stores in one day

Checkers opened five new stores in Johannesburg’s East Rand in one day – in locations that all used to be Pick n Pay franchises.

Read more on Business Tech

Global Retail Giants Launch $125 Million W23 Global Fund for Retail Innovation

In a groundbreaking move to foster innovation and sustainability in the retail sector, five major global grocery retailers have joined forces to establish the W23 Global venture capital fund. With a total investment of $125 million over the next five years, this collaborative effort aims to propel promising startups and scale-ups worldwide.

The most popular loyalty programmes in South Africa – with a new number one

Market research firm BrandMapp and consultancy Truth have published the 2023/24 Loyalty Whitepaper, revealing which loyalty programmes are the most used in South Africa – with Checkers Xtra Savings now in the top spot.

Read more on Business Tech

Clicks expands service delivery with the opening of its first omnichannel warehouse

Clicks, South Africa’s leading health, beauty and wellness retailer, has announced the opening of its first in-house e-commerce fulfillment facility in Montague Gardens, Cape Town. This marks a significant milestone in the company's commitment to delivering unparalleled service excellence to customers nationwide.

Checkers is printing money with Sixty60

Since launching in 2019, Shoprite’s Checkers Sixty60 on-demand grocery delivery service has shown exceptional growth and generates an estimated R10 billion annually.

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Clicks opens 900th store in Johannesburg

Clicks, South Africa’s leading health, beauty and wellness retailer, has announced the grand opening of its 900th store at Barlow Park in Sandton, Johannesburg. Operating in South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Eswatini, Clicks’ current store footprint includes 716 pharmacies and 204 clinics.

Read more on Retail Brief Africa

Shoprite delivers knockout half-year sales performance

Retail giant Shoprite is continuing to outperform its peers with the group reporting a 13.9% surge in sales for the half-year ended 31 December 2023, to R121 billion, on Tuesday.

SA’s grocery retailers: comparative report reveals winners

The Corporate Retail Comparative Report from Trade Intelligence paints a picture of a sector under pressure – but continuing to innovate and invest, as the major retailers compete ever more fiercely for market share.

Read more on Retail Brief Africa

SA retail sales up 2.7% in December

Stats SA reports that retail trade sales increased by 2.7% year-on-year in December 2023.

The largest contributors to this increase were: retailers in textiles, clothing, footwear and leather goods (7.0% and contributing 1.6 percentage points); and general dealers (3.5% and contributing 1.5 percentage points).

Read more on Retail Brief Africa

KFC opens concept store at Play Braamfontein precinct

KFC Play Braam at 73 Juta Street, Braamfontein, Johannesburg will serve as both a unique retail space and an innovation hub for the brand. It will pioneer new concepts in real time and innovate in all areas: food, fashion, customer service, team member experience, tech, operations, development, sustainability and design.

Read more on Bizcommunity

Pick n Pay appoints new head of retail, restructures exec team

Group CEO Sean Summers has appointed his senior leadership team as a key step in the drive to return Pick n Pay supermarkets to growth whilst ensuring the Online, Boxer and Clothing growth drivers continue to deliver. Pick n Pay will undergo an immediate structural adjustment to allow it to focus with clarity on customers, buying, store execution and the store estate.

MetroFibre launches first store in township

South African fibre network operator (FNO) MetroFibre launched its first store in Thembisa on Friday, 1 December 2023.

The new “Experience Store” is located at the Busy Corner Imbizo Shisanyama in Thembisa, with employees recruited from the local community.

Shoprite posts double-digit sales growth

Africa’s largest supermarket retailer, the Shoprite Group, has posted a 13.2% rise in sales for the three months ending September 2023, supported by a strong performance by the core Supermarkets RSA segment as well as the Other operating segment, which saw a 13.3% and 22.2% sales increase respectively.

Read more on Moneyweb

Design Quarter Fourways: A transformed lifestyle retail hub

Design Quarter Fourways, Johannesburg's once premier décor and homeware destination, has been redeveloped as a holistic modern-living lifestyle retail centre.

The phased redevelopment was designed by MDS Architecture for Investec Property Fund. Offering 24,570 m2 of mixed-use development, Design Quarter is a curated, connected, convenient experience for surrounding residents completed in July 2023.

Read more on Bizcommunity

Queue management systems: Why going local is lekker!

In today’s fast-paced world, queue management solutions are still the unsung heroes of busy businesses. What makes them even more amazing? Choosing local, of course!

Let’s explore six good reasons why choosing to keep it local is simply lekker!

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Massive shake-up for shopping malls in South Africa as Spar, Pick n Pay and Shoprite end exclusivity agreements

Massive shake-up for shopping malls in South Africa as Spar, Pick n Pay and Shoprite end exclusivity agreements Over 2,000 shopping malls and retail centres in South Africa are in for a major shake-up as retail group Spar joins Pick n Pay and Shoprite in bringing an end to long-term exclusive lease agreements.

Service Systems helps launch Cape Town’s new Refugee Reception Centre

To manage the influx of visitors and the unique queueing requirements of the office, Mercury Integrations – the principal contractor – appointed Service Systems as the preferred solutions provider for the new facility.

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Woolies Food faces fresh onslaught from Shoprite

The Woolworths Food business, already facing stiff competition from Shoprite’s Checkers brand, is under fresh attack from the relentless outfit from Brackenfell.

Shoprite’s franchise division, OK, has opened its first OK Urban convenience retail store in Durbanville, Cape Town (just 6km from the group’s head office).

Read more on Moneyweb

Builders Warehouse revolutionises yard operations with Service Systems’ flow management solution

Builders Warehouse, a leading home improvements retailer, has successfully streamlined its yard operations by leveraging Service Systems’ expertise in customer flow management, software and hardware development. Builders has implemented an innovative yard management solution that helps to measure and improve their customer experience and operations.

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Botched SAP project costs Spar R786-million

A botched implementation of SAP enterprise software cost Spar Group R786-million in lost wholesale turnover in the six months to end-March 2023.

Spar is facing a double-digit decline in profit and has deemed it “prudent” not to declare an interim dividend as a result. The company said high interest rates, load shedding, difficulties in implementing its new IT system and rising costs are to blame for its weak results.

Ackermans taps into brick-and-mortar success with 1000th store milestone

Leading South African value-for-money retailer Ackermans has opened its 1 000th store at Bridge City Shopping Centre in KwaZulu-Natal, solidifying its position as a leading retailer in the country.

Read more on Retail Brief Africa

Pepkor to roll out new stores despite energy crisis

Pepkor Holdings Ltd said on Tuesday, 30 May that it would add 71 stores by the end of the year, bringing the total to 6,000 as it seeks to build market-share even as the country's power crisis burdens both retailers and consumers.
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Clicks opens 700th pharmacy as part of drive to ensure easier access to healthcare

Meeting the evolving needs of consumers is a priority for Clicks. Nearly two decades after the first Clicks pharmacy opened in Sea Point, Cape Town, the health, beauty and wellness retailer opened its 700^th pharmacy at Design Quarter in Fourways, Johannesburg, on Thursday, 25 May 2023 as part of its continued drive to expand access to affordable healthcare.

What's The Deal With Queue Management Systems?

Are you tired of customers getting lost in your queues like socks in a dryer? Do you want to stop playing a guessing game with your resources and start serving your customers more efficiently? Look no further than Service Systems queue management!

Service Systems

iStore opens first of its kind store in Africa at Eastgate Mall

iStore announced the opening of Africa’s first APP store Inspired by Apple’s iconic store concept. iStore CEO, Chris Dodd said the new store promises to offer the full Apple experience and deliver a completely new level of customer service.

Clicks talks expansion plans as it acquires its first 24-hour pharmacy in South Africa

Clicks Group plans to open 50 new stores and 40 pharmacies in 2023 and has acquired its first 24-hour pharmacy in the Western Cape.

Clicks published its unaudited interim results for the six months ended 28 February 2023 on Thursday (20 April), highlighting its plans for the full-year 2023 on the back of positive results.

Read more on Business Tech

5 reasons why superior customer service is critical to success

Customer service has an outsized impact on business performance, often much more than cost or service options. Good interactions with a customer can grow loyalty and goodwill better than the best marketing efforts. Exceptional customer service is critical for business success. Here are five data-backed reasons why.

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Inside Shoprite's new clothing store, which has self-service checkouts

The group launched the first store of its planned new UNIQ clothing chain on Thursday, at the Canal Walk shopping mall in Cape Town.
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The self-checkout is expected to speed up the purchasing process, enabling staff to focus on other in-store priorities. Each store will still have at least nine employees, the group said.

The Shoprite Group opens first clothing store

The Shoprite Group has launched UNIQ, its new clothing brand fashioned on simplicity, comfort, superior fabrics and value.

The first standalone UNIQ store opened in Cape Town’s Canal Walk shopping centre with another eight stores scheduled to open in the next month.

Food Lover’s Market opens entries for aspiring social entrepreneurs to join them as a supplier

Food Lover’s Market, South Africa’s largest privately owned retailer, is launching the Seeds of Change Supplier Development Partnership for the third consecutive year.
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This programme is an opportunity for aspiring social entrepreneurs to join the company as a supplier, and entries open on 13 March 2023 and close on 17 April 2023.

Woolies Dash takes on Checkers and Pick n Pay

South Africa has seen a boom in grocery delivery services in the past few years, with many grocery stores releasing their own versions of a delivery app.Although Checkers Sixty60 has been dominating the sector, other services like Woolies Dash are starting to catch up.

According to a recent study by eMarketer (now Insider Intelligence), South Africa’s online food delivery market is projected to reach R34 billion in 2023. The grocery delivery segment is expected to grow by 16% in 2024.

Read more on My Broadband

BJ’s to roll out inventory robots chainwide

BJ’s goal in bringing Simbe robots to its stores centers around the company’s desire to use data to get a clear sense of operating conditions as it looks to become more efficient and serve customers better, according to the announcement.

The robots, which can traverse an entire store several times per day, feed information to cloud-based servers that use artificial intelligence to guide store employees in stocking shelves, locating products and handle other tasks.

Read more on Retail Dive

Shoprite sees half year sales exceed R100bn

Earnings for the first half of the year at Shoprite increased by 10.2% as customers spent R12.7 billion more with the group than they did in the same period last year.

The retailer reported that headline earnings per share increased from 527.4 cents in the preceding year to 581.3 cents in the six months ending on January 1.

Read more on Retail Brief Africa

South African shoppers prefer retail self-service

A significant number of surveyed South African consumers say they prefer to use self-service checkouts and scan-and-go technologies when shopping in-store.

This is one of the key findings of PwC’s latest Global Consumer Insights Survey, which assesses key shopping trends in five regions across the world.
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It surveyed 9 180 consumers between October and November 2022 via a 15-minute online quantitative survey.

JD Sports sets out new 5 year strategy, 350 new stores a year planned

JD Sports has set out plans to become the “leading global sports-fashion powerhouse” under new CEO Régis Schultz’s five-year growth plan.

Karen Ferrini named new Builders vice president

Karen Ferrini has been appointed vice president of home improvement, DIY and building materials retailer Builders and member of the Massmart executive committee. Effective 1 February 2023, Ferrini takes over Herman Venter's position following his appointment to group chief merchandise officer (CMO).

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7-Eleven delivery robots hit the streets

7-Eleven is testing robotic delivery in West Hollywood, California, in partnership with Serve Robotics.

Serve delivery robots can carry up to 50 liters and have cupholders to stabilize drinks and enough space for four pizza boxes, according to its website. They can navigate autonomously through a series of sensors, or can be piloted remotely...

Read more on Retail Dive

Pepkor's first quarter sales up 6.5% on store expansion

Pepkor Holdings, the owner of South African clothing retailer Pep and Ackermans, reported a 6.5% rise in first-quarter revenue on Monday, 30 January, helped by 132 new stores that it opened in the period and the acquisition of Brazilian retailer Avenida. But its like-for-like sales were hit by load shedding.

Read more on Bizcommunity

TFG sales leap with Black Friday and festive boost

TFG's third-quarter sales jumped by 17.3% after Black Friday sales and holiday specials spurred demand for summer clothes and furniture.
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The increase was despite the company's biggest business, TFG Africa, losing trading hours during the three months to 31 December because of rolling power cuts throughout South Africa.

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R7 billion saved in six months with Shoprite & Checkers Xtra Savings

More than 25 million South African consumers saved a combined R7 billion on their grocery bills during the past six months (July to December 2022) through the Xtra Savings programme at Shoprite and Checkers supermarkets.

Woolworths expects huge boost in earnings

Retail giant Woolworths South Africa expects its profit growth to increase dramatically to 80% by December 2022.

In a trading update for the 26 weeks ending 25 December 2022, the group anticipates headline earnings to settle between 285.4 cents to 302.2 cents a share, driven higher by a significant improvement in sales over the festive and Black Friday seasons.

Read more on Business Tech

Babies R Us to open flagship store

Babies R Us will open a flagship store at the American Dream Mall in Bergen County, New Jersey, this summer.

The location will be a “one-stop-shop for all things baby,” with a full range of products and services to support expecting parents, according to company information sent to Retail Dive.

Brand management firm WHP Global acquired the Babies R Us and Toys R Us brands in 2021.

Read more on Retail Dive

5 reasons people leave your stores without buying anything and how to fix it

Retail businesses rely heavily on customer traffic and sales to stay afloat. Unfortunately, there are many reasons why customers might leave a store without making a purchase. In this article, we'll explore five common reasons why people leave stores empty-handed, and what retailers can do to prevent it from happening.

Service Systems

Walmart made over 6,000 drone deliveries in 2022

The achievement follows the company’s rapid expansion of the transportation method’s availability. Walmart now has 36 U.S. stores with drone delivery hubs, which are operated by DroneUp, Flytrex and Zipline. The stores are located in seven states — Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, North Carolina, Texas, Utah and Virginia.

Read more on Retail Dive

Pick n Pay pilots Takealot pickup point in Cape Town

Grocery, home and clothing retailer Pick n Pay has further tightened its relationship with online-only retailer Takealot by housing a new pickup counter at Pick n Pay’s Table Bay Mall store in Cape Town for the Naspers-owned e-commerce company.

Read more on Moneyweb

BOS Brands secures equity investment for UK expansion

The new investment consortium includes South African Springbok Captain Siya Kolisi, his wife, Business Director and CEO of the Kolisi Foundation Rachel Kolisi, the Banducci family (which includes the CEO of Woolworths Australia), and a follow-on investment by the Ferguson family in the UK. Investment Specialist Shaun Bryans will join the board as part of the deal, representing the consortium.

Read more on Retail Brief Africa

Wilson opens two new Chicago stores

Continuing to expand its brick-and-mortar presence, Wilson Sporting Goods opened two new stores in the Chicago area.

In addition to sportswear, both stores sell equipment for sports such as pickleball, tennis, football and more, according to details emailed to Retail Dive on Dec. 21. The suburban Oak Brook neighborhood location is 8,300 square feet, offering a full-size pickleball court and indoor putting green, along with racket stringing and laser personalization services.

Read more on Retail Dive

Shopping: how retailers are using the latest technology to boost in-store spending

In-store marketing tools have moved far beyond brightly coloured signs and piped music towards a rapidly developing set of technological techniques designed to help you spend.

One of these involves actively encouraging you to use your phone while you are in a shop by providing free wifi, using QR codes, or sending you ideas on social media.

Woolies Dash delivery service expands to more areas in SA

Woolworths is expanding its Dash online delivery service to more locations along the coast of South Africa. It's now available for the first time in Langebaan, Simon's Town, Mossel Bay, George, Knysna, Plettenberg Bay, Jeffreys Bay, Margate and Richards Bay.

Read more on Bizcommunity

Amazon Go opens third suburban store in Southern California

Amazon opened a new Amazon Go suburban convenience store Thursday in Woodland Hills, California, about 25 miles west of downtown Los Angeles.
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This marks the third Amazon Go location to open in Southern California. The other two are located in Whittier and Torrance, which opened in September and November, respectively.

Read more on Retail Dive

The return of mall culture and other retail trends to watch out for in 2023

While e-commerce is here to stay, the resurgence of mall culture post-pandemic is clear. This has been evidenced by a number of South Africa’s commercial property groups not only seeing footfall numbers exceeding pre-Covid levels but spend per head too.

Customer centricity will remain king in 2023 and retailers will need to up the ante with shopping experiences that consumers now desire and expect.

Read more on Retail Brief Africa

Shoprite takes aim at Pick n Pay Clothing

The Shoprite Group will enter the clothing category in March in its latest incursion on adjacent categories to its core supermarket business. This move will put it squarely up against Pick n Pay, whose clothing business is one of its growth engines.

On a recent investor call, Shoprite CEO Pieter Engelbrecht was tight-lipped on the specifics, but did disclose that the group would “start small” with “10 to 12 stores and … build slowly”.

Read more on Moneyweb

Edgars is back to profitability

Edgars new owner, the Retailability Group, has done well, recovering from Covid, riots and floods to deliver overall top-line performance: CEO Norman Drieselmann.

Read more on Moneyweb

Spar taking on Checkers, Pick n Pay and Woolworths with delivery in South Africa

The Spar group says that its newly launched on-demand delivery shopping platform SPAR2U is close to reaching critical mass, with plans to expand its operations in South Africa.
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Reporting its annual results for the year ended September 2022, the group presented a sound set of results, given the economic headwinds facing businesses and consumers – not only in South Africa, but in all markets it operates, including Ireland, Switzerland and Poland.

Read more on Business Tech

No Wallet, No Problem: Amazon Expands Palm Payment to DFW Whole Foods Stores

The Amazon One palm recognition service can identify "unique features" on your palm's surface and even vein patterns beneath the skin, enabling you to check out by simply hovering your hand over the device.
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Currently offered at Whole Foods Markets in Irving and Highland Village, the service is coming to 16 DFW Whole Foods locations in the coming weeks. And for those worried about security and privacy, Amazon says it's got those covered with tech, too.

Checkers opens in Merino Mall, creating 73 new jobs in Ermelo

Checkers has opened its first world-class Fresh X supermarket in Ermelo at the newly built Merino Mall; creating jobs for 73 new employees. The store has a total of 145 employees and will be managed by Quintin Swart who joined the retailer in 2006 as a Designate Manager.

Read more on Retail Brief Africa

Xiaomi launches first South African store — including huge deals

Xiaomi officially opened its first physical store in South Africa. Located at Shop L21 at Sandton City in Johannesburg, the store will sell Xiaomi smartphones and AloT products, and will also conduct Xiaomi smartphone repairs.

Read more on My Broadband

Clicks ranked the number one pharmacy brand in South Africa

Clicks Pharmacy has been recognised as the Customer Experience Winner in the Pharmacies Industry in the 2022/23 Ask Afrika Orange Index Awards. The awards were announced in Johannesburg on 3 November 2022.

Massmart’s e-commerce capability expands rapidly through Walmart backing

Since early 2021, Massmart has made significant investments into building and growing its e-commerce offering. Powered by Walmart, the group has been able to significantly increase its technological capabilities – resulting in an improved experience for both customers and employees.

Read more on Retail Brief Africa

Takealot launching 24-hour marathon sale on Black Friday — How it will work

South Africa’s biggest online retailer, Takealot, will host its first-ever 24-hour marathon live shopping event over Instagram on Black Friday this year. The offer will run concurrently with the first day of Takealot’s Blue Dot Sale, the retailer’s version of Black Friday, starting one minute past midnight on 25 November 2022.

Read more on My Broadband

Pick n Pay rolling out Bitcoin payments across South Africa — starting with these 39 stores

Pick n Pay has expanded its Bitcoin payments trial to 39 stores across South Africa’s major cities, the retailer has announced. It plans to roll out to all its stores in the coming months. “While for many years crypto was something for specialists on their computers, or used by early adopters trying it out, things are changing,” Pick n Pay stated.

Read more on My Broadband

A look at Pick n Pay’s new flagship store – which will be the blueprint for its ‘premium’ revamp across South Africa

Pick n Pay has opened its new flagship store in Waterstone Village, Somerset West, Cape Town, which will be the model for what customers can expect at all revamped Pick n Pay stores in the future.

Amazon opens second Style fashion store

Amazon is continuing its push into fashion by opening physical retail locations. The company opened an Amazon Style store in Columbus, Ohio. It is the e-commerce giant’s second Style store in the U.S. and the first in the Midwest.

Read more on Retail Dive

Clicks surges as it ups full-year profit by a third

Retail-led healthcare group Clicks on Thursday reported a 33.5% rise in profits for the year ended August 2022, with group diluted headline earnings per share (Heps) increasing to 1 032.7 cents, up from 773.6 cents in the previous period – bumped up by a strong recovery in the beauty category, tighter controls on costs and strong cash flows.

Read more on Moneyweb

Theatre of food: Inside Food Lover's new R100m Cape Town flagship

Food Lover's Market has opened the doors to its new 3,000m² flagship store in Bothasig, Cape Town, the result of a R100m investment by South Africa's largest privately-owned retailer. Located at the intersection of Link and Vryburger Roads, Food Lover's Bothasig is a standalone store with a strong emphasis placed on creating an environment of fresh and sustainable shopping.

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Clicks ClubCard wins big at SA Loyalty Awards

The iconic Clicks ClubCard loyalty programme has been awarded ‘Best short-term loyalty marketing campaign’ and ‘Best use of multi-channel loyalty communication’ at the South African Loyalty Awards, announced last night. ClubCard was also highly commended in the ‘Best loyalty retail programme’ and ‘Best long-term programme’ categories.

Read more on Retail Brief Africa

Time Out Market to open at V&A Waterfront

Food and cultural market, Time Out Market is set to open at the V&A Waterfront in late 2023 in Cape Town. Opening in partnership with the V&A Waterfront Holdings, Time Out Market Cape Town will showcase a curated mix of the city's best culinary and cultural experiences.

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Shoprite Group saves R16m by increasing its solar capacity by 82% in 12 months

The Shoprite Group has increased its installed capacity of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems by 82% to 26,606 kWp over the past 12 months. The 143,674m2 of solar panels at 62 sites, is equivalent to the size of 20 soccer fields. This is enough to power the equivalent of 3,735 households for one full year, thus easing the pressure on the national electricity grid.

Read more on Retail Brief Africa

New Lego store in Joburg first of its kind in Africa

The Great Yellow Brick Company, the South African licence-holder of the Lego Certified Store concept, opened the first four stores in 2018 and 2019 and now looks to extend the reach of the Lego brand through physical retail expansion.

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Pick n Pay grocery deliveries launch on Takealot’s Mr D app

Pick n Pay and Takealot Group have started testing grocery deliveries in the Mr D app, the companies announced on Tuesday.They are piloting the PnP Groceries on Mr D service in specific areas in Cape Town and Johannesburg and intend to rapidly expand to 300 stores nationwide by December 2022.

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Shoprite Group store openings in September create 521 new jobs

The Shoprite Group opened 31 new stores during the month of September, equating to more than one store a day and creating 521 new jobs. With more than 145,000 employees, the Group is South Africa’s largest private sector employer – a trend which is set to continue as it plans to open 275 new stores in 2023.

Pick n Pay introduces new boutique store format in Cape Town

A new Pick n Pay store has opened its doors in Sea Point, the retailer's second store in the Cape Town suburb after nearly 50 years since it opened its first store in the area in the 1970s. The boutique-styled Pick n Pay is a new format to match its new home in Station House.

Foschini-owner TFG becomes biggest SA client of Musk's Tesla Powerwall to beat load shedding

Foschini and Jet owner TFG is the first retail group in SA to pilot the use of batteries from SA-born billionaire Elon Musk's Tesla as it looks to combat the effect of load shedding on its store base. The group ordered 227 Tesla Powerwalls on 26 July and an additional 80 on 25 August, bringing its total to 307 units. With 43 stores to date having been fitted, TFG is now accelerating the rollout of the system.

Lego posts strong growth on robust demand, new store openings

Lego on Wednesday posted double-digit sales growth in the first half of the year, driven by new store openings and robust demand for its colourful plastic bricks despite rising costs and inflation hitting consumers. The Danish company opened 66 new stores in the six-month period, of which 43 were in China, bringing the total number of Lego branded stores to 833 worldwide.

Checkers just opened first high-end store in Eastern Cape as it aims at Woolies shoppers

Shoprite just announced the launch of its first high-end Checkers FreshX supermarket in the Eastern Cape to gain market share with affluent South Africans. The newly revamped retail store, located In Boardwalk Mall, Gqeberha, has created new jobs for 138 employees and currently has 202 workers.

Battle of the retail giants: Woolworths vs Shoprite vs Pick n Pay vs Spar vs Massmart

BusinessTech looked at the most recent annual financial reports (from 2021/22) and compared the country’s five biggest listed retailers on 10 key metrics – from financial performance to investment and reach.

Brookside Mall is back – with a world-class Checkers Hyper supermarket

A new and improved Brookside Mall in Pietermaritzburg this week re-opened its doors following the extensive structural damage it suffered during the July 2021 unrest. A total of 45 new jobs have been created as a result of the upgrades to the Checkers Hyper, bringing the store’s staff complement to 164 employees.

Waiting In Line Doesn't Have To Suck!

Queuing has always been a part of life. The issue, however, is that people are becoming far less patient and forgiving. How can we solve that?

Service Systems

Clicks voted no 1 by SA’s youth

Clicks has once again been voted the Coolest Specialist Health, Beauty and Accessory Store in the annual Sunday Times Generation Next Awards, South Africa’s leading annual youth brand preference and consumer behaviour research focusing on the country’s youth market between the ages of 8 and 30.

Read more on Retail Brief Africa

Brick And Mortar Retail – Saved By Technology!

The retail industry was unwillingly dragged into a period of rapid change when the COVID-19 pandemic was in full swing. The negative predictions that seemed to plague brick and mortar retail before the pandemic was accelerated like the proverbial last nail in the coffin!

Service Systems

Checkers opens standalone Little Me store in Cape Town

Cape Town parents have a new destination to shop for the best international and local baby brands: Checkers has opened a standalone Little Me store at the Table Bay Mall in Sunningdale. This follows the success of the first standalone Little Me store in Drakenstein, Paarl, opened in late 2021.

Read more on Retail Brief Africa

Pick n Pay embarks on its own 'new dawn' – with stores to challenge Shoprite and Woolworths

Pick n Pay has embarked on a path of renewal and is splitting its stores into two distinctive brands. This strategy will see the retailer targeting affluent shoppers under its original brand while new QualiSave stores focus on the middle market.

Walmart Canada turns to automated AI solution to curb out-of-stocks

The retailer is installing Focal’s computer vision cameras, which scan shelves at predetermined intervals and alert workers to restock the shelf when it finds an out-of-stock item.

Read more on Retail Dive

WeBuyCars points to massive growth for vehicle loans

Vehicle marketplace, WeBuyCars says it has surpassed the milestone of 12,000 vehicle sales per month, as its rapid expansion plans continue to pay dividends.

Aldi overtakes Morrisons as UK's fourth-largest supermarket chain

Aldi has overtaken Morrisons to become Britain's fourth-biggest supermarket group, helped by its popularity during the cost of living crisis

25 years in, nearly 450 stores later - the secret sauce behind The Crazy Store's success

Value retailer The Crazy Store aims to have 500 stores operating in southern Africa by the end of 2023.

Levi’s opens shop-in-shop in Hudson’s Bay

The shop-in-shop will have a Levi’s Tailor Shop, where customers can modify jeans to achieve the perfect fit or customize their purchases with special embroidery, colored shank buttons and other unique features, according to the press release.

Read more on Retail Dive

Why Walmart’s total Massmart takeover could revive Makro and Game

Making Massmart a wholly-owned subsidiary of Walmart could give the retailer more operational flexibility to speed up the company’s turnaround, expand stores, and build out its online platforms.

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Truworths posts record profit as UK sales recover, SA credit appetite grows

Truworths posted a record profit in the year to end-June, thanks in part to strong sales growth at its UK business and renewed credit appetite in South Africa.

Massmart shares skyrocket following announcement of potential total Walmart takeover

Walmart Inc. plans to take Massmart Holdings Ltd. private and will promote the unit’s chief operating officer to head of the company as it prepares to renew its focus on South Africa.

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Customer Engagement: What, Why, And How

Customer engagement is now often considered a business need rather than a nice-to-have. Let's look at the topic of customer engagement and talk about how creating meaningful interactions with your audience may help you stand out from the crowd.

Service Systems

How To Respond To Negative Reviews: 10 Steps To Success

Reviews have the power to make or break a business. When potential buyers are trying to make a purchase, they are likely to go to one of the review pages. Bad reviews, contrary to popular belief, are not always bad for business.

Service Systems

Shoprite’s Money Market account now a fully-fledged bank account

Shoprite‘s Money Market Account is now a full-fledged, transactional bank account, the first ever offered by a South African retailer – and the lowest cost entry-level bank account on the market.

Read more on Retail Brief Africa

10 Reasons Why Smart Lockers Could Change The Way We Receive Packages

Smart lockers are surprisingly adaptable solutions for storing and managing equipment and procedures. They can help any company, from a tiny local guesthouse to a global manufacturing conglomerate.

Service Systems

Customer Service: 10 Tips For Efficient Service Delivery

It might not be a sprint to have excellent customer service, but speed is still necessary.

Service Systems

Walmart considers total takeover of Game and Makro owner

Massmart has reached a principle agreement with majority shareholder Walmart that could potentially see the US-based multinational corporation acquire all of the company’s remaining shares.

Read more on My Broadband

Retail Opportunities You Don't Even Realize Your Missing!

So many retailers out there still refuse to understand why footfall data is so critical. They are too focused on other misleading KPIs to see the impact footfall and conversion data variables can make on their turnover. So what is it that Footfall Data Collection will show you as a retailer?

Service Systems

Is Your Business Creating The Best Customer Experience In Your Industry?

Keeping a regular track of customer experience indicators is a valuable and vital part of your business's daily operations. If you've answered no to this insightful question, it's time to get thinking and start planning your attack.

Service Systems

2022 - The Year Of The Smiley

Electronic customer feedback survey devices are popping up all over. From simple push-button pads to more comprehensive touch screen kiosks. Let’s face it, there is no better time to gather feedback than right at the moment of truth.

Service Systems

Massmart announces new CEO

Massmart, which owns Makro, Game, and Builders, has announced that Jonathan Molapo will succeed Mitchell Slape as CEO from 1 January 2023.

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Importance Of Analytics In Retail

What every retail business wants is to have more customers, keep them loyal, and most of all selling more products to those customers. To do this they need to ensure they have the right products at the right prices, but above all that, offer a great customer experience.

Service Systems

3 Awesome Benefits Of Using A Visitor Management System

Retire your outdated visitor book and compliment your front desk with an attractive, simple and secure visitor management

Service Systems

Improve Your Emergency Room Patient Flow

Move your emergency room into the future and create a better patient experience.

Service Systems

The Human Touch In CX

We live in an age where business technology is growing at a rapid pace. But no technology can replace the feeling of being appreciated as a customer like an interaction with a human being. Well, at least not yet in CX.

Service Systems

Mr Price just opened its first baby stores, with baby food, prams, accessories and more

The stores offer various essential items for babies, toddlers, and kids up to seven years old.

Snake Queue Management System Proudly Built In SA

Locally developed Snake Queue Management and Digital Signage system offer retailers exceptional value at rates that can’t be beaten by global players.

Service Systems

7 Reasons Your Business Needs a Smart Locker!

Smart lockers are surprisingly adaptable solutions for storing and managing equipment and procedures. They can help any company, from a tiny local guesthouse to a global manufacturing conglomerate.

Service Systems

4 Customer Types And How To Approach Them

Customer service and happiness are essential to every business's bottom line. Yet, we often have problems distinguishing between the many types of clients we encounter. It's critical to understand what kind of customer you're dealing with to improve their experience and your own bottom line.

Service Systems