Makro mRewards partners with Standard Bank UCount Rewards & Caltex to ease the fuel burden. As of 16 September 2022, Makro, one of South Africa’s longest standing retailers will offer its mRewards members up to R10* back in Rewards Points per litre of fuel and oil at participating Caltex forecourts around the country. According to
Braintree, a trusted Microsoft Gold Certified Partner powered by Vivica Holdings, has been named as an LS Retail Diamond and LS One Platinum partner for 2022, further entrenching the company as an expert in providing digital solutions to the retail and FMCG sectors across Africa. LS Retail is a leading global provider of all-in-one business
MACmobile, leading provider of cloud-based solutions for the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) space, has launched MAC eCom Platform, an end-to-end eCommerce platform developed specifically to bring digital transformation to South African general trade and the main market space. MAC eCom Platform offers a complete B2B platform with built-in warehousing, distribution, and sales modules to allow
Nick Imudia, Co-Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Konga, Nigeria’s leading composite e-commerce giant, is set to stand down from the role at the end of September 2022, after a successful term as agreed with the Board of Konga Group while Prince Ekeh, his Co–CEO who just completed his MBA from University of Oxford, England is
By working together, Pick n Pay and Mr D have just made online grocery shopping much better, easier, and more exciting for customers. Using the Mr D app, all your favourite Pick n Pay products can now be delivered right to your door. By bringing together the best of Pick n Pay and Mr D,
South Africa’s business, government and NGO leaders came together to celebrate the 25th anniversary of MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet (MySchool), Woolworths innovative, multiple award-winning community loyalty and corporate social responsibility programme. The programme has provided support of around R934 million to more than 8 000 schools and NGO beneficiaries across the country, who have benefited from
Woolworths and FlySafair partner to bring travel perks to local travellers. As the year-end fatigue begins to set in, and with the start of October school holidays, South Africa’s much-loved retailer, Woolworths, and FlySafair have joined forces in an exciting partnership that is sure to give travellers a reason to smile. Passengers travelling on selected
The Shoprite Group has opened 31 new stores – equating to more than one a day – during the month of September, 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
SPAR’s Chikka Chicken insists on environmental responsibility across the value chain Sustainability at SPAR, and more specifically their freshly in-store prepared Chikka Chicken, is about joining the dots, not ticking the boxes. By embedding environmental responsibility into every activity in the value chain, Chikka Chicken aims to ensure that customers not only get great-tasting chicken
The Shoprite Group now helps its suppliers with access to funding at the most affordable rates with the launch of a new supply chain finance product. The CredX finance product, which is often cheaper than bank financing, is available to all of the Group’s suppliers and is expected to assist especially SMMEs, for whom cash flow constraints and access
The popularity of rewards programs among South Africans remains high, as many consumers continue to seek ways to stretch their pockets, and find ways to make the most out of their everyday purchases. As a result of this popularity, more and more South African brands are including rewards as part of their customer relations strategy.
By Nivasha Pather, Category Marketing Manager, Nestlé East, and Southern Africa Culture is an inherent part of our identity as South Africans and in art, we have found many a means to reflect that which makes us proud of our heritage. Particularly for our diverse country, art’s ability to reflect our heritage also breaks boundaries,
In 2021, Nestlé East & Southern Africa Region (ESAR) joined forces with tech start-up Kudoti, waste buy-back centre, Destination Green, and waste reclaimers from Tembisa and together launched RE-Imagine Tomorrow, an ambitious waste management initiative. The project applies principles of the circular economy in tackling poor waste management, and has, over the last year, been
SPAR International has selected CitrusAd, a leading tech platform built for retail, as a worldwide supplier of e-grocery retail media solutions. CitrusAd’s retail media platform will form part of SPAR’s digital transformation journey, supporting the delivery of a personalised, targeted, experience to consumers online, matching SPAR’s offline approach. SPAR is one of the most recognised
SPAR International has announced a worldwide partnership with food tech company Whywaste to support their food waste reduction strategy at retail. SPAR country organisations will be able to use Whywaste’s digital solutions in their day-to-day operations to reduce food waste in stores. Portfolio of solutions Whywaste provides a portfolio of solutions that addresses food waste-related
Jumia (NYSE: JMIA), the leading e-commerce platform in Africa, has today announced a partnership with Coca-Cola Africa Operating Unit to offer consumers access to Coca-Cola products from the comfort of their homes. The partnership will provide a steady supply of Coca-Cola’s beverage portfolio to consumers who prefer to shop online through the Jumia platform and
The newly revamped Boardwalk Mall is home to the Eastern Cape’s first world-class Checkers FreshX supermarket, which has created new jobs for 138 employees. The store has a total of 202 employees and will be managed by Warren Kappadu who joined the retailer in 2018. Checkers FreshX Boardwalk Mall will offer customers a unique shopping
Makro launches a first in South Africa – digital premium liquor experience, nestled at their Woodmead Liquor store in Johannesburg North. In partnership with Distiller Pernod Ricard, the official ribbon cutting event took place on Thursday evening with interactive digital experiences showcasing the distillers’ topline brands; Chivas, Glenlivet and Jameson. The newly revamped Makro Woodmead
By Andrew Dawson, MD of MACmobile Digital transformation has been identified as a key driver for optimisation in the South African Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) space, particularly in the main market. Bringing a consumer-like, app-driven ecommerce experience to this market is an area that has received a lot of attention and investment, and several apps
As South African consumers continue to turn to private brand products to make their money go further, Massmart’s ‘M’ frozen convenience offering has experienced exciting growth of over 30% at Makro between January and June this year. ‘M’ is of equivalent quality to leading brands in the same categories and the brand is aggressively developing
Mike Smollan, Chief Growth and Innovation Officer at Smollan looks at retail trends for the third and fourth quarters of this year and beyond, and what these means for growth. Gears switched at the beginning of 2022 as we entered a new phase in a retail eco-system that was still massaging aches and pains and
In the week of National Recycling, International Coastal Clean-up and World Clean-up days, Woolworths has confirmed that with the recent opening of a new PET Wash Plant in Cape Town an additional 1 000 of the retailer’s food packaging items can now be recycled in South Africa. Another exciting packaging improvement is the current rollout of
RFG Holdings increased revenue by 21.2% in the 11 months to August 2022, the group announced in a trading update released on the stock exchange news service (SENS). In the first six months of the 2022 financial year, RFG reported revenue growth of 20.9%. Chief executive officer Pieter Hanekom said growth was driven by ongoing
Local startup makes it possible to fight climate change while shopping online With a goal to curb carbon emissions, South African startup Curbon, will make carbon-neutral online shopping possible through the launch of the country’s very first plugin created to help fight climate change. Curbon’s unique offering gives shoppers the opportunity to take direct, meaningful climate
SPAR Athienitis, situated in the Fife Avenue shopping centre in Harare, Zimbabwe, has reopened its doors after extensive renovations. The new-look SPAR Supermarket boasts wider shopping aisles, an increased range, and a new gifting and home décor section The store has undergone a significant transformation, with an increase of 600m2 (about twice the area of
The impact that online – in all its facets – has on offline sales is much greater than perceived This year the fourth 2022 South African Digital Customer Experience Report reveals the phenomenal impact that the combination of social selling, reviews and online browsing – in all of its facets – has on offline sales:
South African consumers are cheering a small decrease in petrol and diesel prices for September, but for fuel retailers, the industry remains a tough industry characterised by low margins and rising costs. Diversifying revenue streams is a favoured lever most fuel retailers have for increasing their profitability in this difficult operating environment, says Steven Heilbron,
“Convenience” is no longer just a buzzword in online retail– it’s everything. The e-commerce explosion in the past two years, both internationally and in South Africa, has heightened customer expectations to the extent that failing to deliver online orders on time can literally make or break a business. Retailers that don’t shape up in terms
The results, from continuing operations, for the financial year under review are for a 52-week period compared to 53 weeks in the previous financial year. Throughout we are showing the 53 weeks to 4 July 2021 as the comparative period, unless stated otherwise. Sale of merchandise increased by 9.6% to R184.1 billion Basic earnings per share
World’s leading clean, eco-friendly, automated, on-demand and instant logistics service will serve Jumia’s consumers upon launch Jumia (NYSE: JMIA), the leading e-commerce platform in Africa, and Zipline, the world’s largest instant delivery service, announced today a collaboration to deploy automated, on-demand delivery for e-commerce in Africa. Pilot program and testing were launched a few months
HIGHLIGHTS • Full year dividend significantly increased, up by almost 250% to 229,5c • FBH turnaround demonstrated through strong operational and financial performance, with aEBIT growth of almost 49% • Australian second half performance outperformed expectations, with David Jones aEBIT up 86% and Country Road Group aEBIT up 19%. • Foods business continues to generate
Seamlessly integrating is the golden nugget, amongst several other factors worth considering Keeping customers happy in the online retail space requires e-commerce businesses to be at the top of their game. Where traditionally a customer would visit a physical store, buy an item, and hopefully go away feeling satisfied with their purchase, online retailers not
Highlights 4.3% Comparable store sales growth from continuing operations 50% Online sales growth Expense growth 3% below inflation Potential Offer by Walmart to acquire Massmart shares it does not already ownfor ZAR62 per share Potential Offer represents a 53% premium on 26 August 2022 closing share price CEO succession also announced Results Summary Total sales
Africa’s Largest B2B E-Commerce Network Becomes Official Private Sector Ambassador for “Silicon Zanzibar” Initiative Wasoko, the African e-commerce company leveraging innovative technology to transform the informal retail supply chain, has announced the official launch of the “Wasoko Innovation Hub” in partnership with the Zanzibar government. Located in Fumba Town, Zanzibar, the new Hub will focus on
South Africa’s micro, small and medium-sized traders can now improve their cash flow with more reliable supply chains and better customer marketing using Sabi, Africa’s leading B2B platform for goods and services distribution. SABI is partnering with Vumele to enable and empower South Africa’s informal economy. Sabi recently opened an office in Johannesburg and already
From one crisis to the next, consumer habits are changing Just as the world was returning to some kind of ‘normality’ it didn’t take long for war in Europe, surging inflation, soaring fuel and energy prices, along with severe bouts of load-shedding to cast a particularly dark shadow over the first half of 2022. Now,
eThekwini’s manufacturing Clusters unlock growth and deliver jobs Since the onset of the pandemic, eThekwini Municipality has been driving the development of the manufacturing sector and now, many of the initiatives are ready to scale and are delivering positive results. According to Takalani Rathiyaya, Head of the Economic Development Programmes Department at the eThekwini Municipality,
Since 2020, Smollan, a global sales and marketing services company, has been using FleetDomain, an Argility Technology Group company, to manage its fleet of around 2 000 vehicles in South Africa. By integrating its software with Smollan’s accounting systems and banking partners, FleetDomain has enabled Smollan to contain costs and manage its fleet much more effectively,
Shoprite’s Money Market Account is now a full-fledged bank account. It already provides almost two million banked and unbanked customers the best deal on the market. It’s official: 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
Zapper users can now link their bank accounts in the Zapper app to pay their favourite merchants securely at POS, in just one click South African independent mobile payments, insights, loyalty, and rewards platform Zapper has teamed up with payments and data API Stitch via its LinkPay product, to bring the latest in payments innovation
NCR’s Retail team was recognized at the 2022 Retail Systems Awards for Partnership of the Year for its relationship with Iceland. Iceland Foods is one of the fastest growing and most innovative retailers in the UK. These awards are sponsored by Retail Systems, a website for senior-level technology and business decision-makers in retail and e-commerce.
The seasonally adjusted Absa Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) further declined in July, suggesting that the manufacturing sector experienced a tough start to the third quarter following a weak second quarter. The headline index fell from 52.2 points in June to 47.6 in July. This is the first reading below the neutral 50-point threshold since July
Bhandari has 18 years’ experience of driving growth of the Nestlé business Nestlé has appointed Arvind Bhandari as the new Cluster Head for East and Horn of Africa, which forms part of Nestlé East and Southern Africa Region (ESAR). In this role Bhandari will manage operations in Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Eritrea, Somalia, South Sudan,
The Shoprite Group has finalised sustainability-linked loans totalling R3.5 billion for investments to expand its key environmental programmes as part of its wider sustainability strategy. These include a R2 billion loan from Standard Bank (the bank’s biggest in the retail sector to date), and a R800 million sustainability-linked loan and a R700 million green loan
Mike Smollan, Chief Growth and Innovation Officer at Smollan looks at retail trends for the third and fourth quarters of this year and beyond, and what these means for growth Gears switched at the beginning of 2022 as we entered a new phase in a retail eco-system that was still massaging aches and pains and
LC Waikiki customers will now be able to make payments seamlessly via mobile money in all their branches in Zambia Cellulant (www.Cellulant.io) Zambia has signed a partnership agreement with leading fashion retailer LC Waikiki, which will enable customers to make payments from all LC Waikiki stores across Zambia through the Tingg digital payment platform. As
In a first for retail in South Africa, the Shoprite Group has acquired over 100 of the most fuel-efficient trucks in Southern Africa. The Scania Euro V trucks have a proven fuel saving of around 10% along with lower CO2 and NOx emissions. The Group’s world-class supply chain – which includes 29 distribution centres covering
Food costs are soaring with the war in Ukraine, interest rate hikes, fuel increases, and changed weather patterns. A KZN-based startup is focusing on driving down the cost of food by cutting out middlemen and reducing transport costs while increasing profits for farmers. AgriKool, an e-trading platform, connects agricultural producers to buyers to facilitate the
Spur Corporation increased headline earnings by 31% to R121 million in the year to June 2022 as the group reported a strong post COVID-19 lockdown trading recovery and capitalised on increasing restaurant foot traffic. Group revenue grew by 32.5% to R2.4 billion, with improved franchised restaurant turnover, higher sales in the company-owned restaurants and increased
Growthpoint Properties (JSE: GRT) is piloting a 4.5MW battery system at Paarl Mall in the Western Cape to store electricity for its continuous, cost-efficient power supply. This is the largest commercial battery installation in South Africa to date, and it will be partly charged by Paarl Mall’s new rooftop solar PV plant, extending the positive
