Engen’s fast-food convenience offering is flourishing, and Cape Town customers can now enjoy a slice of Andiccio24’s delicious pizza at Engen Sunset Beach Convenience Centre in Milnerton. Engen Sunset Beach operates 24/7 and offers customers a diverse range of convenience services along with and Andiccio24’s gourmet Italian cuisine. Conveniently located in a high traffic area
At the regional Annual General meeting of 2020, SPAR Western Cape, South Africa, announced the winners of its Store of the Year competition. The winning stores were evaluated using an extensive assessment process throughout the year. SPAR Supermarket in Sea Point SPAR Sea Point is the 2020 Store of the Year in the SPAR Western
Enables bank to expand its offering to power digital payment acceptance among SMEs, large corporations, public institutions and individuals NBS Bank, a leading commercial bank in Malawi, launches its state of the art e-commerce platform, powered by Network International (www.Network.ae), the leading enabler of digital commerce across Africa and the Middle East. The implementation of
NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR), a leading provider of retail solutions that run the store, announced today the acquisition of grocery e-commerce leader Freshop. Adding e-commerce to NCR’s leading retail core point-of-sale platform will give retailers, especially regional and small grocery chains, the ability to quickly deploy “buy-online, pickup-in-store” capabilities to serve their customers’ needs directly. This combination enables
By: Steven Heilbron: CEO, The Connect Group After a difficult year that saw year-on-year sales fall every month between the start of the hard lockdown and September, South Africa’s retail sector is hoping for a fresh start in 2021. Retail merchants that start the year with access to financing and ready to pursue new opportunities,
NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR), a leading provider of retail solutions that run the store, is among the top providers of Worldwide Unified Commerce SaaS and Software and SaaS for the retail industry according to the Unified Commerce Market Research Report conducted by the IHL Retail Executive Advisory Program (REAP). The IHL rankings highlight NCR’s exceptional industry accomplishments in the
Patrick’s Pfizer experience spans more than 20 years in leadership roles with multiple successes across geographies Pfizer (www.Pfizer.com) has announced the appointment of Patrick van der Loo as Regional President for Africa and the Middle East (AfME) region. Patrick’s Pfizer experience spans more than 20 years in leadership roles with multiple successes across geographies. In
Since 1954, Burger King® has encouraged its guests to Have it Your Way® and confidently celebrate self-expression. Today, the brand is making a leap forward by introducing a completely new visual design that will be present throughout all touchpoints of the guest experience. Inspired by real and delicious food, the more modern look marks the first complete rebrand in over 20
Playground to holidaymakers, jetsetters and sunseekers, Camps Bay is renowned for its magnificent location at the foot of the Twelve Apostles mountain range – and now also for having a Starbucks with a one-of-a-kind view. Starbucks Camps Bay offers visitors and locals alike a delicious and wide-ranging ‘something for everyone’ menu, world-class service from the
Nestlé has partnered with local sustainability consultant TS Environment to set up a plastics waste recovery programme in Ethiopia. The objective of the programme is to achieve plastics neutrality within the next 12 months. This means Nestlé has collected and co-processed the equivalent amount of plastic as contained in the products sold and prevented the further flow of plastic
In an ever-changing retail landscape, our people remain at the heart of our business. Our 370,000 SPAR team members across the world interact with customers daily, seeking to provide a consistently excellent shopping experience. To support these team members throughout their retail career, digital solutions are proving of growing importance The future of our business
Starbucks has a brand new café in Stellenbosch, located in the upmarket Checkers FreshX store overlooking Die Braak, the picturesque town square that is flanked by a beautiful Cape Dutch style church and other historical buildings. Starbucks in Stellenbosch is the second store in a Checkers FreshX supermarket, the first having opened in Rosebank Mall
Tap, Tap, Tap and Grow By Karen Nadasen, CEO of PayU, South Africa It has been a year of reckoning: a year that lit a fire beneath online payments in South Africa, transforming eCommerce while creating immense economic pressure. As the global pandemic waged war on government process, merchant sales and consumer behaviour, companies were
Thanks to the global SPAR distribution and retail network, SPAR Partners in 48 countries worldwide benefit from joint purchasing opportunities that range from regional buying alliances to sourcing centrally through SPAR International. SPAR International also offers own brands ranges supplied through the distribution centre in The Netherlands to 30 countries around the world. A SPAR
Egypt Post and Jumia signed today a cooperation protocol that aims to boost and develop e-commerce trade flows and industry in Egypt. Dr. Sharif Farouk, Chairperson of Egypt Post, said that the agreement aims to overcome the barriers that affect the potential growth of Egypt’s e-commerce market. He also pointed out that the agreement will
PayCentral, a digital payment fintech, has partnered with Mastercard to launch DigiCentral, a secure online platform that provides small business owners with a simple, quick and cost-effective way of paying out incentives, rewards, gifting, corporate expenses and even salaries to their employees through a prepaid virtual card. The virtual card replaces a physical plastic card
A Greener World (AGW) is a new food label for farmers and retailers committed to animal welfare and sustainable livestock production. This meaningful label for meat, milk, eggs, as well as organic and regenerative products guarantees the growing number of green-conscious consumers that products have been produced with real sustainability credentials and conscientiousness. After much
Diebold Nixdorf (NYSE: DBD) announced VynamicTM FCx, a dynamic, cloud-based platform developed to empower fuel and convenience retailers to build incremental sales beyond traditional transactions at the pump, increase brand loyalty and offer greater personalization to consumers. Vynamic FCx is a cloud-native solution based on Microsoft Azure cloud technology. It’s an easy-to-use, centrally deployable system that can
The breach or theft of cardholder’s details can affect an entire payment card ecosystem. Customers suddenly lose trust in merchants or financial institutions and similarly these merchants and financial institutions are subject to numerous financial liabilities and lost credibility. This makes a solid case for the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliance
KEY FINANCIAL INDICATORS Revenue R11.3bn, down 23% EBITDA R1bn, down 48% Trading profit R682m, down 56% Operating loss R283m Loss for the year R4.3bn Impairments of R4bn Headline loss of 78cps for continuing operations; headline loss of 88cps for total operations HIGHLIGHTS Operating capability sustained despite significant impact of COVID-19 R1.1bn cash generated from operations
UnionPay International (UPI) announced today the launch of UnionPay PaybyLink, a link-based payment service, to provide merchants with a minimalist digital sales solution. With this solution, merchants are able to sell their products in just a few minutes by offering online payment service to UnionPay cardholders via means such as SMS and e-mail, without the
Nestlé today announced the Skimmelkrans Net Zero Carbon Emissions Project: an ambition to create the company’s first carbon neutral dairy farm, located in George, South Africa. Nestlé has committed that by 2023, the farm will be carbon net zero. “The Skimmelkrans project is a positive step in our sustainability journey. In the context of yesterday’s global announcement by
For the past eight years, SPAR South Africa has worked with the Mr Price Foundation to empower young South Africans through Jump Start, a successful work readiness programme. The foundation addresses the problem of youth unemployment, one of the country’s biggest challenges. The programme builds a robust talent pipeline for entry-level positions in the retail
With leading bill payment aggregator Pay@ Services offering a broad spectrum of retailer, banking, and mobile-based bill payment services to bill issuers across most industry sectors, CEO Andrew Hardie believes that the company has the unique ability to provide a helicopter view of the bill payments market in 2020, particularly the impacts of the COVID-19
Checkers today revealed its new state-of-the-art supermarket at the Rosebank Mall as it continues to introduce more and more customers to a truly world-class shopping experience. The upmarket store offers a number of unique speciality services including: A honey bar offering three unique, local varieties of honey-on-tap, namely Buchu, Lucerne and Spring Hand-stretched, stone baked
SDM Eyewear will continue to distribute top international eyewear brands under the newly named holding company: FrontierCo. This is after SDM’s previous holding company, Busby, went into Voluntary Business Rescue in July this year. SDM has been part of the Busby stable since 1998. Along with the other brands in the group, SDM underwent a
By Allan Dickson, Independent Chairman at redPanda Software In the devastating wake of the global pandemic, companies across industries are grappling with the economic impact – and few more so than the embattled retail sector. Without a doubt, ‘making the numbers’ is rare amidst weaker revenue. This means that there is inevitably a strong focus
While the Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend may have been a relatively muted affair this year, online merchants have enough time to salvage the last trading quarter if they apply lessons learned and aggressively tackle the festive season, says South Africa’s largest payment service provider, the DPO Group (including PayGate, PayFast and SiD). “The
Data Top Ups (70%), clothing (63%), and groceries (52%) top the virtual shopping list in the region 66% of consumers have embraced online banking, and on average nearly half have used the downtime to upskill on online experiences such as healthcare, cooking, education and more Social media has become an integral platform for connecting consumers
E-commerce platform leads EV revolution to combat emissions and noise pollution in Kampala Sokowatch, the innovative East African e-commerce platform, has announced the ground breaking launch of electric tuk tuks to its delivery fleet in Uganda, making the vehicles the first to be used commercially in East Africa. Built and assembled by a team led
Through Nomanini’s platform, Nestlé is able to provide much-needed access to sufficient working capital so that retailers can stock a wide range of high-quality products Informal retail Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs) across the Eastern and Southern Africa Region (ESAR) are set to receive a technological and operational boost for their businesses, thanks to
Clothing (62%), Computer and electronics (56%), and health products (55%) top the virtual shopping list in Egypt 4 in 5 people are using the downtime to upskill. Top learning experiences include banking, cooking, dancing, learning a language, and managing their health online Social media has become an integral platform for connecting consumers to online businesses
Uganda now has an ISO certified fuel laboratory following Vivo Energy Uganda’s laboratory accreditation by the International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) 17025:2017. Vivo Energy Uganda is the marketer and distributor of Shell branded fuels and products. This announcement was made at a press conference held to launch the company’s Quality Week that will celebrate the
Lewis Group overcame severe trading restrictions in the first two months of the national COVID-19 lockdown to recover strongly and increase operating profit by 13.6% for the six months to September 2020. Headline earnings per share increased by 9.9% to 236 cents and the board declared an interim dividend of 133 cents per share, 10.8%
Data and airtime top up (81%), clothing (56%) and groceries (54%) top the virtual shopping list in South Africa 68% of people have learnt a new skill such as online banking, cooking, mastering DIY projects, and dancing, while 52% have spent more money on virtual experiences Social media has become an integral platform for connecting
A brand new Builders store is opening its doors at Cresta Shopping Centre on November 26, 2020. The first branch to open within a super-regional mall, Builders Cresta will offer the full Builders Express range of products and services the brand is trusted for including a garden centre and a paint tinting and mixing counter.
Konga Nigeria’s foremost composite e-Commerce giant, has been rewarded with the highly coveted Company of the Year award in the just-concluded People of the Year Awards, 2020 organized by Business Hallmark Newspaper Group. The award, a recognition of the many landmark strides of Konga in the e-Commerce space, is the latest in a growing list
Huawei has integrated Zapper into its Huawei Pay offering allowing millions of South African mobile phone owners to scan and pay using QR codes. The new partnership forms part of Zapper’s ongoing initiative to partner with the greater payment ecosystem. Huawei is South Africa’s second largest mobile phone vendor with a 29.1% market share as
PAXI, the affordable counter-to-counter parcel service which allows its customers to send, collect, and return parcels in a safe, convenient and affordable way, has experienced exceptional growth since its launch in 2018 by leveraging the extensive Pepkor store footprint. PAXI now has over 2 100 parcel service points countrywide through the Pep store network and
South Africa’s SPAR Group has reported a turnover increase of 13.5% to R124.3 billion (€6.79 billion) for the year ended 30 September 2020. The group’s extraordinary performance comes as consumers supported SPAR’s local and trusted retailers during this time of crisis. The group represents SPAR business in Southern Africa, Ireland, Switzerland, and Poland. The group
RFG reported a resilient performance in the year to September 2020 as turnover increased by 8.3% to R5.9 billion, despite COVID-19 impacting sales and profitability in the fruit juice and pie categories, and severely curtailing exports to China. The Western-Cape based food producer, which owns market-leading brands Rhodes, Bull Brand, Magpie, Squish, Bisto, Hinds and
Standard Bank Instant Money has partnered with some of South Africa’s major retailers and selected spaza shops; growing its footprint to over 15 000 cash out points nationwide. “Innovation and access to financial services is crucial for Standard Bank and that is why we have expanded our retailer footprint to offer our customers more options for
Clive Potter, Global Head of Consumer Client Coverage, and Ishmael Mohamed, Sector Analyst for Consumer Client Coverage, at Standard Bank Group Traditional retailers in South Africa can no longer defer their omnichannel sales strategies, with the COVID-19 pandemic having significantly accelerated the shift to online shopping. Omnichannel retail refers to sales and consumer interactions that
The annual MTN Business App of the Year Awards, which took place virtually last month for the first time, celebrates the very best of South Africa’s app development talent. The winner of the Best South African Solution for 2020 is BOTTLES, an app that provides a delivery service not only for your groceries, but also
Checkers Sixty60 picked up a gold award in the Service Design category at the 2020 Loerie Awards. Sixty60, the first one hour grocery delivery service from a South African supermarket chain, also recently won at the 2020 MTN Business App of the Year Awards and the 2020 BCX Digital Innovation Awards. “We are thrilled to have won a gold Loerie
Spur Corporation has reported a sharp decline in sales and profitability as the COVID-19 lockdown adversely impacted trading in the last four months of the financial year to June 2020. After restaurant sales increased by 6.0% in South Africa and 4.0% in the international operations in the eight months to February 2020, sales declined dramatically
For a sustainable shift to happen in the circular economy moves must be made to step outside brainstorming sessions, and lip service paid to the nice to have narrative, and an investor who believes in using business for good to make their mark. Enter stage left Smollan and their recent partnership with Mr Green Africa,
The New House of Busby received approval from 91% of its creditors in support of its business rescue plan scripted and executed by Hans Klopper and Dawie van der Merwe of BDO Business Restructuring. The company will now be rebranded to FrontierCo and its Head Office has relocated from Germiston to George in the Southern
Checkers Sixty60 has won the 2020 BCX Digital Innovation Awards, which recognises excellence in digital innovation in the corporate category. Sixty60, the first 60-minute grocery delivery service from a South African supermarket chain, also recently won the People’s Choice Award and the Best Enterprise Solution at the 2020 MTN Business App of the Year Awards. These awards recognise
The no-frills guide to what South African shoppers are doing online The South African e-Commerce industry has experienced a massive boom in 2020. Accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, Rand Merchant Bank estimates that the value of e-commerce transactions in South Africa will surge 150% to R225 billion by 2025. To better understand South Africa’s online
