South African eCommerce merchants can now finance their businesses easily and shoppers can make purchases on credit just as easily. This is the result of two collaborations entered into by PayU, SA’s largest online payment gateway. The collaborations, with leading merchant financing company, Lulalend, and consumer credit provider, Mobicred, are set to boost an eCommerce
Mastercard unveiled the next generation biometric card, combining chip technology with fingerprints to conveniently and safely verify the cardholder’s identity for in-store purchases. South Africa is the first market to test the evolved technology, with two separate trials recently concluded with Pick n Pay, a leading supermarket retailer, and Absa Bank, a subsidiary of Barclays
Visa Inc, has become the first card network to enable participating issuers to provide their U.S. commercial accountholders a comprehensive view of their Amazon Business purchases. The new enhanced transaction data functionality, initially available to Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Citi and PNC Bank, N.A., U.S. commercial accountholders through Amazon Business, provides full line-item details on Amazon
The PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC) announced at the PCI Middle East and Africa Forum, plans to evolve the PCI Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) program to attract new cyber talent globally and ensure its sustainability and quality in a changing payment environment. The initiative will be rolled out in phases, beginning in 2017 with
News outlets are taking notice of J.C. Penney, but locally-owned small businesses – the proverbial “canary in the coal mine” have been dealing with everything from big box stores to e-commerce. In the wake of 138 store closings announced by J.C. Penney plus another 150 Sears and Kmarts — most in small cities — national
Despite difficult trading conditions in both South Africa and Australia, Group sales increased by 6.7% to R37.8 billion, and profit before tax increased 37.9% following the sale by David Jones of its Market Street property in Sydney for a profit of A$172 million (R1762 million). Adjusted diluted headline earnings per share (adHEPS) declined by 2.4%
Tesco has announced it is extending its Same Day Click and Collect service, allowing customers to pick up their online groceries more quickly and easily than ever before. Customers can now order an unlimited number of items before 9am and book a two hour window to collect their groceries from midday onwards. This new slot
The customer journey has changed. As digital technology becomes ubiquitous in our everyday lives the way we discover, browse, select, and pay for goods and services continues to evolve. Multi-channel and omni-channel solutions are allowing customer to initiate the customer journey in one channel and complete it in another. This is causing new retail sales
During the six months to end December 2016 the Shoprite Group comfortably outperformed the rest of the South African market. Total turnover increased by 14% to R71.30bn while the trading profit rose by 19.2% to R3.91bn. Diluted headline earnings per share grew 15.5% to 460c and the board declared an interim dividend of 180c, up
Tesco has announced changes to the way it runs its Express convenience stores, as it continues to improve the shopping trip for its customers and simplify its business. The changes follow a successful trial in a number of its Express stores and will increase the overall number of colleagues serving customers. The changes focus on
For customers, time is money. To help customers save this new form of currency, Walmart announced new capabilities in the Walmart app that create a faster, easier and more convenient experience for Pharmacy and Money Services customers. Along with these expanded app features, Walmart will create a new store experience that allows customers to skip
The Style Group, a contemporary lifestyle retail group in Nigeria, is leapfrogging the brick-and-mortar sales of fashion, accessories and design services and instead focuses on offering them via modern social media commerce. In the booming social media and eCommerce market of Nigeria, The Style Group’s model is a hit and reaching thousands of Nigerians eager
Organizations are wasting billions of dollars each year on customer loyalty programs that don’t work like they used to, according to new research from Accenture Strategy. With millions of loyalty points sitting dormant and the majority of U.S. consumers (78 percent) retracting loyalty at profit-crushing rates, organizations must pay attention to the new factors driving
Unilever is running a series of events around the world to raise the profile of engineering careers with students who will be entering the industry in the next two years. Working towards gender balance The idea is to excite and educate students about jobs in the FMCG industry, in particular bringing alive the differentiators –
Exponential online sales growth paired with the EMV chip migration in the US makes e-commerce payment security for merchants more important than ever before. As EMV chip technology continues to reduce face-to-face credit card fraud, the shift to ecommerce security becomes increasingly important to businesses large and small. To help merchants shore up their ecommerce
Walmart announced free two-day shipping to home and stores on more than two million items, without a membership fee. The new offer is available starting at 8 a.m. EST today. With this announcement, Walmart has also lowered the minimum purchase required for free shipping to home to $35, from $50. Items being shipped to stores continue to
Diaspora remittances, money transfers by migrants to their region or country of origin, are becoming increasingly important to the economies of a number of African countries. In Nigeria for example, remittances of about US$35 billion were expected in the last year. Diaspora remittances are the second biggest source of foreign exchange for Nigeria, and according
Spinnaker Software is proud to celebrate its long-standing relationship with Cambridge Food, a subsidiary of Masscash South Africa, and to announce the completion of a comprehensive integration to its SAP ERP system. The solution comprises Spinnaker’s tried and tested Arch Retail system, which offers comprehensive functionalities for managing the various departments found in typical full-service supermarkets,
The Competition Tribunal has approved the merger between Amdec and Culemborg Investment Properties, a property letting company offering specialised retail rental. Post-merger Amdec will control Culemborg. The primary acquiring firm Amdec group is a privately-owned property development and investment business. It owns a portfolio of immovable properties and property letting enterprises and actively operates within
The top 250 global retailers generated aggregated revenues of US$4.31 trillion in fiscal year 2015, representing composite growth of 5.2 percent, according to the Global Powers of Retailing 2017: The art and science of customers report from Deloitte Global. “Slow economic growth in major developed economies, high levels of debt in emerging countries, deflation or low inflation
The NRF Foundation today announced the 25 individuals named to The List of People Shaping Retail’s Future. The honorees represent the best and brightest individuals impacting the retail industry and will be recognized on January 15 at the NRF Foundation Gala during Retail’s BIG Show in New York City. “Retail is driven by millions of talented and passionate individuals
JOHANNESBURG, 23 November 2016 Tiger Brands (JSE: TBS), South Africa’s leading fast moving consumer goods manufacturer posted a solid set of results for the year ended 30 September 2016, testament to the strength of its brands and ability of its leadership to navigate the difficult environment. The company recorded an increase in group turnover from
Friday, 11 November 2016, Healthcare group Netcare and pharmacy retail group Clicks today announced that the Competition Commission and Competition Tribunal have approved the long-term agreement which they entered into on 8 June 2016, whereby Netcare will outsource its 37 retail pharmacies in Medicross medical and dental centres and 45 Netcare hospital retail front shop
Woolworths Holdings Limited (“WHL”) today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Country Road Group had entered into an agreement to acquire Politix, a market-leading retailer in Australian designer menswear. Politix has 75 stores, including 31 concessions across Australia and FY2016 sales of A$56 million. The agreement is subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions precedent
The payments business used to be simple, consumers would pay with cash or cheque and merchants would offer trusted customers credit, and even accept IOUs. Technology has marched on however, and credit cards, debit cards, prepaid vouchers, and store cards have all been added to the mix. Customers are even reaching a point where they
MyGate, one of South Africa’s leading online payment gateways has been voted the best online payment gateway in Africa for 2016 by the Corporate Vision Technology Innovator Awards. The 2016 Technology Innovator Awards were designed by Corporate Vision Magazine to recognise the individuals, departments, and firms behind ground-breaking developments in business and technology. MyGate offers
The Eastern Cape retail sector is set to benefit from key global insights when South African expatriate Troy Zunckel returns to the country after more than a decade of international retail experience in Dubai. Zunckel heads to Port Elizabeth’s R2-billion Baywest Mall in April, taking the reins from outgoing GM Sonja de Necker, who will
The iconic Mall of Africa today opens its doors for business in Waterfall City. The 131,038sqm mall marks the largest first phase completion of a mall ever in South Africa, boasts more than 300 outlets, is host to some of the world’s most famous retail brands and is valued at R4.9 billion upon opening for
There might be queues to get into the Mall of Africa, but customers who visit either the Vodacom or the MTN stores there will find a surprising smooth customer journey waiting for them, all thanks to the Qmatic systems in both branches. “We are proud to have two stores at arguably one of the most
With over 4 600 fuel forecourts currently in operation and more expected in the future, this industry is rapidly growing as a key driver of revenue for fuel stations in South Africa. Ronél Fester, FNB Franchise Industry Specialist, says the success and profitability of fuel forecourts lies in their ability to understand and meet the
Dunkin’ Brands, the parent company of two of the world’s most recognizable brands, Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins, today announced that it has signed a master franchise agreement with Grand Parade Investments Limited (GPI) to begin developing Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins restaurants in South Africa. The agreement remains subject to GPI’s receipt of approval from the
For the first time since the dawn of e-commerce in South Africa, online retail in South Africa will reach 1% of overall retail during 2016. This is the most significant finding of the Online Retail in South Africa 2016 report, released recently by World Wide Worx. The report shows that online retail continues to grow at a
IKEA Group and Wincor Nixdorf conclude iPOS project Approximately 14,000 BEETLE POS systems – 2,700 more than originally planned – were installed by Wincor Nixdorf in 330 IKEA Group stores in 28 countries as part of a big retail project. The entire rollout took just two years and three months, an average of 16 POS
Speaking at the Retail Congress Africa in Cape Town recently, James House CEO of 5one, a global retail consultancy purchased by MasterCard in 2014, discussed how the evolving retail environment is changing the way retailers must engage with their customers. Customers are no longer relying on just one channel when making a purchase and this
The African chapter of the ATM Industry Association has published a commissioned study on retail payment trends in South Africa for its online member Market Intelligence Library. “With 12 million new consumers added to the economy in the last ten years, along with an expanded banked community, the payments pie is getting bigger and bigger,”
Visa is looking to displace cash in Africa wherever they can by introducing and familiarising people to various e-payment technologies. This is according to Mandy Lamb, Visa’s Country Manager for South Africa, who held a media briefing last week to discuss Visa’s plans in Africa. Mandy pointed out that one must no longer think of
The First Annual Retailers Payment Forum was held in Cape Town last week. Hosted by Calleo, a South African based payments consultancy and research firm, the event covered international and local trends in payments technology and showcased the challenges and opportunities for South African retailers. Attended by many of South Africa’s top retail groups including
South African banks are now all in full swing with their respective loyalty or rewards programs. In a highly competitive banking environment, where the large South African banks are doing whatever they can to attract customers across all LSM’s, rewards programs can be used to ensure that existing customers are not tempted to switch banks.
