Decision Inc. has assisted a South African-based multinational retailer migrate its disparate data environment to the Qlik Sense analytics platform to facilitate self-service business intelligence (BI) and enable the group to optimise insights from its data. Its South African retail business operates more than 200 full line stores (comprising fashion, home and beauty, and food),
A collaborative effort between merchants, banks and card networks is required if the greater e-commerce landscape is to benefit from faster approval rates, low-risk trading environments, and a better user experience offered by the new EMV 3-D Secure protocol, says authentication specialist, Entersekt. The original release of 3-D Secure by the credit card networks took
SPAR Zimbabwe has celebrated its ten-year participation in the national Buy Zimbabwe campaign with instore promotions of local goods. Zimbabwe has a rich heritage of manufacturing, along with a wealth of creative, hardworking people who believe in working together for the greater good – in line with SPAR’s ethos of ‘Better Together’. At SPAR, we
93% of consumers are considering emerging payments such as biometrics, digital currencies, and QR code, in addition to contactless, according to the Mastercard New Payments Index Now, nearly 90% of in-person transactions globally take place at a contactless-enabled merchant As the world went into pandemic lockdown in 2020, consumers shifted their spending habits to embrace
The Thesele Consortium, led by the 100% black-owned Thesele Group, on Thursday, 15 April 2021 signed a binding agreement to purchase Bidvest Car Rental (BCR) from the listed Bidvest Group. The agreement is subject to approval by the Competition Commission. It will see BCR continue its services with no disruption to its public and corporate
The inaugural Commonwealth Women’s Entrepreneurship Summit is the first global event to focus on women in emerging tech sectors. Taking place from the 19th to 20th May 2021, it is a 2 day online conference focusing on women’s entrepreneurship featuring 50 speakers, 20 talks and 12 panel sessions. Targeting policy-makers, entrepreneurs, government agencies, entrepreneurship support
The Shoprite Group opened four new stores across three provinces between 27 and 29 April 2021. Positioned in areas not previously served by the Group’s supermarkets or in those showing strong population growth, the four new stores are: Checkers Jukskei Park (Johannesburg, Gauteng) Shoprite Rustenburg Mall (Rustenburg, North West) Checkers Rustenburg Mall (Rustenburg, North West)
African retail giant Game continues to make positive strides in the roll out of its overall turnaround strategy – Retail Reimagined – with the introduction of its fourth Game Re-imagined store in Rustenburg which was unveiled on the 29th of April 2021. Game shared the love with the community of Rustenburg on the 29th of April by having in store activations, competition giveaways, and unlimited
The Ekhaya Mall has opened to bring long-awaited shopping convenience to the community of Embalenhle, Secunda, in the coalfields of Mpumalanga. The Ekhaya Mall is a development by S-Identity Holdings and co-owned by S-Identity Holdings, Cashbuild South Africa and Nomatiki Trading Enterprise. It is a significant investment distinguished by excellent retail property fundamentals, from its
South Africa’s m-commerce up 35%, Nigeria is Africa’s biggest e-commerce market, and Kenya primed for massive growth Multiple factors have combined to bring African countries to an e-commerce adoption tipping point, creating more opportunities than ever for online and omnichannel merchants. This is particularly true for merchants in fashion, beauty, education, and digital goods. This
Starbucks is celebrating its 50th anniversary globally, marking the golden occasion with a renewed focus on building a company based on human experience, connection and community. Adrian Maizey, CEO of Rand Capital Coffee, the licensee of Starbucks in SA, says the celebration coincides with Starbucks South Africa’s 5th anniversary and comes at a historic time
Nedbank, in collaboration with Mastercard and Ukheshe, has launched Money Message, a new payment platform that lets small and microbusinesses conveniently receive secure in-chat payments from their customers via WhatsApp. A first in South Africa, the solution will enable merchants to send an invoice requesting a payment from any customer seamlessly through WhatsApp. Their customers in
Nestlé became the first food and manufacturing company to join the Polyolefin Responsibility Organisation (Polyco), a not-for-profit industry body that was established in 2011 to focus on reducing the amount of used polyolefin plastic packaging waste going to landfill and ending plastic waste in the environment. Polyco aims to make waste a valuable resource that
Pick n Pay has published its financial results for the year ended 28 February 2021. The Group reported an outstanding performance in a year which fell almost entirely within the Covid-19 National State of Disaster. The Group delivered market-leading sales growth of 10.0% in core food and groceries in South Africa, underpinned by sustained improvements
At SPAR, we are continuously looking to integrate sustainable solutions in our operations, with partners exploring ways to minimise CO2 emissions, energy consumption, and waste. SPAR South Africa is moving towards becoming a carbon neutral organisation by 2050, thanks to its strong sustainability strategy. Sustainability goals The future of the SPAR organisation and the communities
Checkers has launched its Sixty60 on demand one-hour grocery delivery service in the North West province for the first time. The service is now available in the vicinity of Checkers Hyper Klerksdorp, with more locations to follow in the near future. Since first launching in late 2019 in a few neighbourhoods in the Western Cape and Gauteng,
Pretoria has its fifth Starbucks, the 25th in South Africa to join iconic locations around the world, courtesy of its newly opened store in Woodlands Mall. A perfect fit for the trendy, lifestyle-focused community in this leafy suburb of Pretoria East, the new Starbucks store delivers the renowned ‘Third Place’ experience – a place outside
Clicks Group reported another strong health and beauty performance for the six months to February 2021 under constrained economic conditions in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, with operating profit increasing by 9.7% to R1.4 billion. Diluted headline earnings per share (HEPS) increased by 9.5% to 371 cents. Excluding the impact of Musica on the
Johannesburg Stock Exchange listed EPP, Poland’s biggest retail landlord, continues to demonstrate agility in the ever-changing retail market by positioning its shopping centres as thriving hubs for innovation. The latest of several cutting-edge solutions offered by the company to support its tenants is EPP Connect – an information and data exchange platform. This innovative portfolio-wide
Woolworths has announced that an additional 50 stores plus two new stores will be single-use plastic shopping bag free by the end of April and has replaced plastic packaging with kraft packaging in popular ‘Ripe and Ready’ avocados which equates to an annual plastic saving of 35 – 40 tons. These milestones help steer the retailer
A survey conducted by mass retailer Game has found that despite increasing levels of digitalisation around consumer behaviour in the last year, South African bargain hunters are using leaflets more than Google search (55%-45%) to compare prices. Additionally, 86% of them prioritise bargain hunting more so now than they did a year ago, no matter
New Report Spotlights Retail’s Digital Acceleration As COVID-19 kept consumers around the world at home, nearly everything from groceries to gardening supplies was purchased online. According to Mastercard’s latest Recovery Insights report, this amounted to an additional $900 billion being spent in retail online around the world in 2020. Put another way: in 2020, e-commerce
Million-dollar manufacturing deal aims to drive industrialisation and economic growth across Africa KAS Africa, a leading contract manufacturer of personal, home, baby and oral care FMCG products, has received an investment with an aggregate value of $10 million from TRT Investments Limited. The transaction significantly strengthens KAS Africa’s balance sheet and capacity to execute its growth
Clothing (61%), Data top-up (55%) and computer equipment (48%) top the virtual shopping list in Ivory Coast. Top learning experiences include cooking, dancing, learning a language, and mastering DIY projects. Social media has become an integral platform for connecting consumers to online businesses Secure checkout experience recognized as fundamental for online shopping A Mastercard study
Konga eyes quality health care distribution across Nigeria with Konga Health Konga Health debuts in June Konga Health set to expand access to quality Medicare for Nigerians Konga Health set to debut in June 2021 Konga Health, a highly anticipated digital health care distribution subsidiary of Nigeria’s leading e-Commerce giant, Konga is set to go
The Tribunal has extended the compliance period for one of the conditions imposed in the March 2020 merger whereby PepsiCo Inc. (PepsiCo) indirectly acquired Pioneer Food Group Limited, through PepsiCo’s South African subsidiary, Simba (Pty) Ltd (“the merged firm”). The merger, one of PepsiCo’s largest acquisitions outside the United States, was approved by the Tribunal,
Kenyan agency banking startup Tanda is expanding its operations regionally after securing funding from early-stage African tech investor HAVAÍC, Zedcrest Capital, DFS Lab, Victor Asemota and three other investors. Tanda has also secured key strategic partnerships with Mastercard and Interswitch which will further accelerate its growth. The company’s expansion comes on the back of successfully
Walgreens to offer new bank account with Mastercard debit card leveraging InComm Payments’ platform InComm Payments to enhance Walgreens-branded gift card program Walgreens has announced an agreement with InComm Payments, a leading global payments technology company, to provide convenient and accessible financial services options for its customers. Together, the companies will launch a new bank account
Data top-up (94%), clothing (64%) and beauty products (56%) top the virtual shopping list in Nigeria Top learning experiences include online banking, learning to manage health & get medicines online, cooking & learning a new language Social media has become an integral platform for connecting consumers to online businesses Secure checkout experience recognized as fundamental
The PMR.africa Awards, held annually are intended to enhance and set a benchmark for excellence and very importantly, to celebrate the success of teams doing a great job. Smollan received five diamond category awards covering markets in both South Africa and Botswana. PMR.africa conducts research telephonically and it is not pre-coded, meaning that it is
Woolworths maintains its position as the cream of the crop in the dairy industry by taking home some of this year’s most prestigious awards. With a wide selection of the finest quality dairy products, it’s no wonder they’ve stolen the show at this year’s annual Dairy Championships. This year’s National Dairy Championship had a total
Jumia, the leading e-commerce company, topped the list of the most influential brands in Egypt, according to a survey conducted in 2020 by IPSOS, the global research company, which is the third largest global research agency. IPSOS stated in its study that Jumia topped the list in the digital and e- commerce sector, and ranked
After one of the most challenging years which was 2020, we are extremely proud to have been part of the 188th South African Dairy Championships which took place on 25 and 26 March 2021 at the Elsenburg Agricultural College. This year’s event was much smaller than previous years and took place under strict Covid-19 protocols
A Mastercard study on consumer spending* has revealed that nearly four out of five (79%) surveyed consumers in Ghana are shopping more online since the onset of the COVID 19 pandemic. Data, apparel, beauty products and other FMCGs (fast-moving consumer goods), have seen the highest surge of online activity. More than 90% of Ghana consumers
The Tribunal has conditionally approved the merger whereby Mr Price Group Limited (“Mr Price”) will acquire the retail apparel business operated by Otto Brothers Distributors (Pty) Ltd (“Otto Brothers”) and its subsidiaries, trading as Power Fashion. The Tribunal has concluded that the transaction is unlikely to substantially prevent or lessen competition in any market in
Engen’s fast-food convenience offering is flourishing, and Cape Town customers can now enjoy a slice of Andiccio24’s delicious pizza at the newly opened Engen Settler’s Way Convenience Centre in Mowbray. Opened officially on 25 March 2021, Engen Settler’s Way is open 24/7 and offers customers a diverse range of convenience services along with Andiccio24’s gourmet
Fair Cape Dairies took another major step towards becoming the leader in sustainable agriculture in South Africa. In the spirit of Fair Cape’s motto of ‘Do the Right Thing’, its newly installed 560-kilowatt solar power plant now allows Fair Cape to not only produce all fresh milk off grid during daylight hours, but also to
The Eastern Cape has received its second Packa-Ching mobile buy-back centre, following the success of the programme in East London. The new unit operates in Gqeberha. In exchange for recyclable packaging material, money is paid into an e-wallet which community members can spend at any Shoprite, Usave or Checkers supermarket. The programme also creates jobs,
Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic last year, blueberry exports increased by more than 27%, growing from 12,221 tons to 15,636 tons. The growth of the South African berry industry over the last five years is one of our country’s great agricultural success stories. Exports have grown from just 1,792 in 2015 to
SPAR Namibia is continuing to improve instore facilities and services across its 30 stores to ensure customers nationwide enjoy a quality shopping experience. The SPAR operator has been upskilling its retail teams in all service departments to provide excellent support and assistance to customers, while boosting job satisfaction among team members. With a combination of
The Shoprite Group’s new cellular network, k’nect mobile, launches next month. k’nect mobile offers 100MB free data for three months, and flat call and data rates. Shoprite, Checkers and Usave customers will be rewarded with free data and airtime. And data is zero-rated for selected apps and websites in the Group’s ecosystem. Customers will earn extra
Key information – continuing operations Sale of merchandise increased by 4.7% to R83.4 billion. Trading profit increased by 18.3% to R4.7 billion. Diluted headline earnings per share (DHEPS) increased by 10.4% to 418.0 cents (Dec 2019: 378.6 cents). Adjusted DHEPS* increased by 17.1% to 416.2 cents (Dec 2019: 355.3 cents). The interim dividend per share
Despite the many digital innovations being made in terms of cross-border payments, retailers still have an important role to play in facilitating the thousands of remittances made from South Africa each year. African retail giant, Game stores, offers cross-border money transfer services from its 120 stores nationally through several providers, including Mukuru, Mama Money, Hello
For The Twelve Months Ended 28 February 2021 Background The announcement of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 coincided with the first month of the Group’s review period, and its impact has been evident over the entire twelve months, in varying degrees, as the respective countries’ risk-adjusted strategies progressed from total lockdown to gradual easing
Leading payment solutions provider, Netcash, has partnered with e-commerce platform, Ecwid E-Commerce, to launch Netcash Shop. Powered by Ecwid E-Commerce, Netcash Shop allows merchants to create an e-commerce shop and start selling their products online within a matter of minutes. Tight integration with Netcash Payment Gateway makes it simple for merchants to accept a wide
Struggling black-owned restaurants, catering and accommodation establishments that have been hit hard by the devastating impact of COVID-19, now have an opportunity to get back on the road to success with the Sekela Hospitality Support Programme. In an effort to bring some relief and lift the spirits of business owners within the hospitality industry, well-known
78% of South African consumers have changed their purchase behaviour South African consumers are navigating uncharted territory as they cope with the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent financial fallout that has wreaked havoc on their income, financial situations and spending intentions. As a result, a whopping 78% of South African consumers say they have changed
Shoprite & Checkers has purchased more than 1.5 million litres of wine since the start of the lockdown to help local farms move excess stock It will be sold under a new exclusive label called Elephant’s Cousin, as well as under the retailers’ other private label wine ranges This is the latest initiative by Shoprite
The rise of e-commerce in the country over the past year may have been driven by the pandemic, but it was long overdue. On eCommerce Day, it is worth noting that South Africa was arguably too slow in initially adopting e-commerce, chiefly because it appeared focused on the niche upper end of the market. Thus,
South Africans can now shop online and pay later, interest-free over six weeks. Payflex has brought the buy now pay later shopping phenomenon to South Africa following its extraordinary popularity in Australia, the USA and Europe. Payflex customers can shop at Africa’s largest digital mall which includes over 500 well-known stores like Cotton-on, Superbalist and
