When you give your sales team the right tools to effectively and efficiently manage clients and build a relationship with them, you positively impact your bottom line. 1Stream’s smart CRM is specifically designed to do just that and has helped transform organisations across various sectors in Southern Africa, which understand the value of building meaningful
The truth is, all businesses are at risk of being scammed at some point, and just one incident can cost a company millions of Rand. Ryan Mer, CEO, eftsure Africa, a Know Your Payee™ (KYP) platform provider, says that fraudsters are constantly finding new ways to exploit vulnerabilities and attack corporate payment systems and it’s
In the restaurant industry, the importance of good customer service is balanced by the need to ensure the customer can easily pay for their meal at the end of their experience – and these two areas inevitably converge at the point-of-sale (PoS). When the South African Nando’s business embarked on a journey to implement new
The 2nd annual Digital Retail Forum is set to take place on the 29th of January 2020, at Emperors Palace in Johannesburg. The forum is hosted by IT News Africa, under the theme; Digital Disruption in Retail: Apocalypse or Revolution. Following a successful 2019 event, #DigitalRetailForum will bring together over 200 local and international retail
Sanjeev Raghubir has been appointed as Group Sustainability Manager at the Shoprite Group. Raghubir will be responsible for establishing a comprehensive sustainability strategy for the Group, which will also strengthen its ability to reduce its reliance on natural resources, while minimising its environmental footprint. Raghubir has a chemical engineering degree from the University of Natal,
TFG (The Foschini Group), a South African retail group operating in thirty-two countries across five continents, has chosen Oracle to support its digital transformation strategy with the consolidation of twenty-two brands into one online marketplace. With close to 3000 stores, TFG migrated its brick-and-mortar offering to a hassle free digital platform and now offers the
Kellogg Company will continue its School Feeding Program and launch two new initiatives in Egypt Kellogg Company, the world’s leading cereal company; second largest producer of cookies, crackers and savory snacks; a leading North American frozen foods company; and owner of Bisco Misr, Egypt’s leading biscuits company and Mass Food company, recently signed a partnership
Coca-Cola Expands Minority Investment to Full Ownership of Africa’s Leading Producer of Juice and Value-Added Dairy Beverages The Coca-Cola Company has announced that it has completed its acquisition of Chi Ltd. in Nigeria. Coca-Cola first announced a minority investment in Chi three years ago and, as planned, has now acquired full ownership of the company. Chi
Today marks the official opening of two new Game stores in Accra by popular retail chain; one in West Hills Mall and one in Achimota Retail Centre. The Game store in Accra Mall has undergone a major facelift and is also relaunching today. Since Game’s debut into Ghana in 2007, the company has supported the
Unilever Ghana, the country’s largest producer and retailer of consumer goods has appointed Mrs Gladys Amoah as the new Managing Director effective November 1, 2018. Prior to her appointment, the new MD was the Customer Development Director of Unilever Ghana, a position served since 1 November 2016, according to GNA. She succeeds Mr Ziobeieton Yeo
Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA) announces the appointment of Jacques Vermeulen, the current managing director of its international division, to the position of Group CEO of CCBA from 1 December. Vermeulen has served as managing director of CCBA’s International Division, which covers all of CCBA’s Africa operations outside South Africa, since July 2016. He first joined
South African consumers are facing an increasingly stressful, time-starved lifestyle which has created a burgeoning demand for convenient solutions that can help simplify their lives and points to a host of untapped opportunities for South African manufacturers and retailers. This stems from the latest report from global measurement company Nielsen, which focuses on the Quest
By 2022, total E&M revenue in South Africa is expected to reach R177.2 billion, up from R129.2 billion in 2017 Africa’s entertainment and media industry has entered a dynamic new phase – a third wave of convergence. The borders that once separated the entertainment and media (E&M), technology and telecommunications industries are blurring in the
Total South African retail sales for May 2018 grew by three percent year-on-year excluding the effects of inflation, compared to the 3.1 percent year-on-year growth recorded in May 2017. This is according to the Mastercard SpendingPulse May 2018 report, which provides a macro-economic analysis of retail spending trends in South Africa. The report shows that
Digital shopping cart concept shows complete purchases via app in-store. Wirecard and T-Systems are working with retailers on the digital supermarket: The concept is designed to let consumers draw up their shopping list using an app, for example, at home. In-store, shoppers link their smartphones to a shopping cart that will take them interactively through
Jumia Nigeria has announced the dates and partners for its biggest sales event of the year, Jumia Black Friday 2017. This year’s event is billed as the Jumia Black Friday Festival and will run for 31 days from November 13th to December 13th 2017 on www.Jumia.com.ng. It will be the largest shopping event in Nigeria
Pick n Pay, the largest online grocery business in Africa, has unveiled its new online shopping website. Designed to work alongside the recently relaunched mobile app, the website has been built to offer greater convenience, wider choice, more promotions and lower prices to its fast-growing base of online shoppers. The website is geared towards customers
Pick n Pay Coachmans Crossing has deployed more than 11,000 refurbished Pricer electronic shelf labels (ESL) from XON Retail. The labels will support an upcoming just-in-time stock keeping process that speeds up and improves the accuracy of regular daily and weekly price updates, cuts labour costs of price updates, costs of paper labels, and costs
South African salaries increased for the fifth consecutive month in July with average salaries and pensions rising – leading to the strong possibility of a consumer recovery. This is according to the latest monthly data from BankservAfrica’s Disposable Salary Index (BDSI) and Private Pension Index (BPPI). This is the first time since December 2015 that
The Shoprite Group delivered industry-leading results for the 2017 financial year, defying tough market conditions. Now serving over 35 million individual customers on the African continent, the Group gained market-share and grew trading profit 11.6% (15.7% compared to 52 weeks) to R8 billion. “We have now achieved 64 consecutive quarters of like for like sales
Vantiv, Inc, a leading provider of payment processing services and technology for merchants and financial institutions of all sizes, announced it is developing comprehensive eCommerce payments and security extensions for the Magento 1 and Magento 2 platforms from Magento Commerce, the worldwide leader in cloud digital commerce innovation. These integrations, part of a new relationship
NCR Corporation, a global leader in omni-channel solutions, announced an agreement with DoorDash, an on-demand delivery platform operating in more than 500 cities nationwide, for the planned integration of the DoorDash marketplace to the NCR Aloha Platform-of-Sale (POS). The integration will allow restaurants to more efficiently receive and manage delivery orders placed through DoorDash, while
Mastercard announced that Masterpass will be live in the coming weeks at Costco.ca for Canadian shoppers. Costco joins a rapidly expanding roster of online merchants including Air Canada, Joe Fresh, Pizza Pizza, Indigo, Landmark Cinemas and London Drugs offering fast, easy and secure digital payment with Masterpass. “Canadians are increasingly shopping online and expect an
Total and Worldline signed binding technological, commercial and financing agreements with African fintech InTouch. Under the agreements, Total and Worldline will support the deployment of the Guichet Unique solution in eight African countries — Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Mali, Morocco, the Republic of Guinea and Senegal. Guichet Unique provides retail networks with a
On a day with incredible deals reserved exclusively for Prime members, sales on July 11 surpassed Black Friday and Cyber Monday, making it the biggest day ever in Amazon history. With hundreds of thousands of deals, this year’s Prime Day was too big for 24 hours – so Prime members had 30 hours to shop.
The largest Customer Experience Management Summit in Africa will take place on the 16th and 17th of August 2017 at the Century City Conference Centre in Cape Town. Now in its 6th year, the summit has grown exponentially, already showing a 35% increase in attendees on 2016’s event. With swift advancements in technology, industries need
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc.,announced a new definitive agreement with Rite Aid Corporation under which Walgreens Boots Alliance will purchase 2,186 stores, three distribution centers and related inventory from Rite Aid. The consideration for the transaction will be $5.175 billion in cash, the assumption by Walgreens Boots Alliance of the related real estate leases and the
Foremost ecommerce retailer, Jumia Nigeria has hit the five-year mark in Nigeria and is celebrating with its customers, employees and partners in the #YouMakeUsJumia campaign. Jumia is throwing a Super Birthday Sale with up to 70% discounts on Jumia.com.ng. In addition to the online promotion, the #YouMakeUsJumia campaign includes live street parties around Nigeria and
TransferTo, a global B2B Cross-Border Mobile Payments Network, has partnered up with MallforAfrica (MFA), an award-winning global e-commerce platform, to offer shoppers living in Africa with direct online access to over 200 major retailers across Europe and the USA. Over the last few years, e-commerce has been growing in popularity across Africa. According to McKinsey,
The retail landscape is evolving rapidly as emerging technologies and trends are changing expectations of the in-store experience. As retailers look to find their place in this brave new world, many are now seeing payments as an opportunity. With 92% of US retailers expecting to maintain or increase investment in payments over the next 12-18
The National Credit Regulator (NCR) has announced that it has referred Foschini Retail Group (Pty) (Foschini) to the National Consumer Tribunal (Tribunal) following an investigation by the NCR which revealed Foschini has charged consumers a club fee on credit agreements. The club fee charged by Foschini is reflected in consumers’ credit agreements. The charging of
Despite economic pressures, investment by the South African retail sector into information and communication technologies (ICT) seems to be holding steady. New analysis by Frost & Sullivan titled “ICT Enterprise Spend in Retail, South Africa, Forecast to 2019” shows that cloud-based services, managed services and cellular connectivity are expected to represent close to ZAR1.8 billion
Gemalto, the world leader in digital security, is supplying Market Pay, a payment institution wholly-owned by Carrefour Group, with payment cards and a Digital PIN solution for C-zam. This new ‘boxed’ account is available on the shelves of over 3,000 Carrefour French retail stores since 18 April. Once the account has been opened, the card’s
Magento, the worldwide leader in cloud digital commerce innovation, announced significant growth and adoption of its next generation cloud platform and solutions across Europe. The record-breaking year includes significant growth in its flagship platform with 42% year over year growth in new license revenues in Europe. The company’s impressive momentum is a product of its
nanopay Corporation, a secure, real-time payments platform provider, unveils Canada-wide availability of its new self-service MintChip Retail Payment Platform. The nanopay platform enables merchants to accept digital cash (in Canadian Dollars), which delivers all the benefits of traditional cash at a fraction of the cost of existing payment options, without charge-backs or fear of counterfeit
The Walgreens mobile app, already one of the most popular retailer apps in the marketplace with tens of millions of users nationwide, has garnered a particularly robust following among older Americans — a demographic rarely associated with mobile app adoption. Walgreens data show more than 20 percent of its app users are age 55 and
We’re talking about the future potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI), augmented reality, and automated drone delivery. We’re talking about beacons and smart mirrors and geolocation services. But really, the retail technology conversation needs to be happening at a more practical and immediate level. In South Africa, the bulk of purchasing power is in the hands
First Data, a global leader in commerce-enabling technology, announced the launch of Fraud Detect, a comprehensive fraud solution for merchants around the world. Fraud Detect leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning, fraud scoring, cybersecurity intelligence, and information from the Dark Web to provide merchants with the capability to detect fraudulent in-store, at the pump, online,
Wirecard Turkey, a subsidiary of the German based Wirecard AG which is a leading company for payment and internet technology, is now collaborating with Startsup, the operator of Aydanaya.com and the first company in Turkey to offer subscription-based e-commerce services and goods under a single roof. While making regular purchases that appeal to their taste
NCR Corporation leads the world in self-checkout (SCO), according to research published by strategic research and consulting firm RBR. According to RBR, NCR has been the overall market leader since 2003 and maintains its dominant position within the SCO market with 73 percent global shipment share in 2016. According to RBR’s “Global EPOS and Self-Checkout
PayU has rolled out strategies to intensify efforts to connect businesses to Nigeria’s online payment market. Annual online payments in Nigeria is estimated to surpass N200 billion this year from N167 billion in 2016. Country Manager of PayU Nigeria, Ms Juliet Nwanguma, says, “In order to pursue PayU’s aggressive expansion in the online payment market
Comprehensive shipping services for retailers including a multi-carrier solution SendCloud, a tool for the optimisation of shipping processes, is a new cooperative partner of the Wirecard Checkout Portal. The shipping tool reflects the trend which has seen many consumers demand increased flexibility and customisation in the field of online shopping. This also applies to shipping
Every month, South African retailers receive billions of Rands in payments from their customers. Behind the scenes, payments technology plays a critical role at retailers, ensuring a fast and smooth shopping experience. It’s a crucial part of our financial backbone that most consumers take little notice of despite interacting with it daily at stores, online
Africa’s online retail sector presents an exciting opportunity for retailers to grow their businesses by connecting with new customers. According to Jumia, Africa’s number one online retailer, the e-commerce sector must focus on delivering a stronger consumer experience if it is to reach its full potential of developing into a $50 billion industry by 2018.
Consumer, technology, trends and the future of South African retail were the pillars that made up the 2017 South African Council of Shopping Centre’s (SACSC) Research Conference. The conference, which is in its seventh year, saw more than 200 delegates who represent the country’s most respected companies and brands, in attendance. The conference highlighted the
The concept of ‘aspirations’ is not easily defined as each person has their own definition and understanding of the term. However, general consensus points towards improving one’s current state of living and improving the way one lives his or her life as the general definition. With the rapidly emerging black middle-class, consumer aspirations have become
New mCommerce platform enables mobile order and pay in retail stores by leveraging existing infrastructure. South Africa’s hyper-competitive hospitality and quick-service restaurant industry has just received a shake-up with the launch of Woolworths’ innovative NOW NOW concept, powered by mobile transacting technology specialists wiGroup. NOW NOW is built on a new mcommerce solution developed by
Tesco has announced it has extended Delivery Saver, its subscription service for online orders, introducing monthly membership plans. The new monthly plans offer customers the benefits and flexibility of Delivery Saver without having to commit to a six month or yearly plan. Customers can save up to £20 a month on a monthly plan* and
Three years ago, Walmart introduced its groundbreaking money transfer service, Walmart2Walmart Powered by Ria, with the goal of bringing customers dramatically lower costs and a simpler money transfer experience. Since that time, Walmart’s customers have enjoyed nearly half a billion dollars in fee savings through using this service, putting more hard-earned money back into their
The South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC), on behalf of the banking industry has released its Card Fraud Stats for 2016, which reflects an overall increase in card fraud for 2016. Credit card fraud increased by 13% from R331.4m in 2015 to R374.4m in 2016, with debit card fraud increasing by 3.1% for the
