With the value of online retail in South Africa topping R30bn in 2020 – and projections of R42bn in 2021 – according to the latest World Wide Worx study on the topic, retailers across the country are gearing up to accelerate their e-commerce and m-commerce efforts. While this is the prudent thing to do, there
A delegation from the Citrus Growers’ Association of South Africa (CGA) visited the Durban Port to see off the first South African shipment of citrus to the Philippines. This historic occasion follows twelve years of negotiations between the two countries with a landmark workplan finally being signed between the Department Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural
Mike Smollan, Chief Growth & Innovation Officer, Smollan examines growth potential D2C holds for fresh, frozen and perishables. As new shopping habits formed during the pandemic, consumer behaviour has been influenced indefinitely as research indicates that demand has seen a huge uptick in D2C in the freezer, fridge, and table fresh deliveries space. According to
Pick n Pay, one of South Africa’s leading retailers, to utilize ACI Omni-Commerce to drive payments modernization as it significantly grows its transaction volumes ACI Worldwide, a leading global provider of real-time digital payment software and solutions, has announced it is extending its partnership with Pick n Pay to drive payments modernization for the South African
WhereIsMyTransport provides commuters in high-growth markets with real-time travel information to get where they need to go WhereIsMyTransport uses data and technology to map formal and informal public transport networks Naspers continues to back South Africa-focused technology companies, with WhereIsMyTransport taking the Naspers Foundry portfolio to five companies Naspers announced a R42 million (US$3 million)
For generations of South Africans, Spur has been synonymous with bringing family and friends together to enjoy that unique Spur taste and hospitality around the table, which continues to be their core focus. However, as customers lifestyles are changing Spur is innovating its model to broaden its appeal by adding drive thru convenience, offering customers
By Robert Wilson & Shawn van der Meulen from Webber Wentzel For the first time in 20 years, a merger may be prohibited on public interest grounds alone. A ground-breaking decision by the Competition Commission (Commission) to prohibit the proposed sale by Grand Parade Investments Limited (GPI) of its investment in Burger King (South Africa) to a
Ukheshe, Mastercard, Nedbank and Telkom collaborate to grow access to the digital economy with virtual product that enables secure e-commerce payments on phone Telkom has launched Africa’s first Mastercard virtual card for use on WhatsApp, enabling Telkom Pay customers to make e-commerce payments. This move is expected to empower millions of South Africans – even
A new era of loyalty for retailers, SMEs, and consumers. South Africa has a well-established retail loyalty scene, with over 70% of consumers belonging to at least one programme – according to Truth & BrandMapp’s annual white paper – but recent numbers show that this is declining year-on-year. Research shows that participants want the rewards
In celebrating this year’s World Milk Day, Nestlé in the East and Southern Africa Region (ESAR) highlighted NESTLÉ NESPRAY Fortigrow’s role in the preservation of the environment through utilizing sustainable farming and production methods. In line with this year’s theme which focuses on Sustainability NESTLÉ NESPRAY celebrates two key initiatives. The first is the “zereau water” factory
Highlights Revenue stable at R6.5bn Trading profit up 11% to R706m Operating profit up 89% to R543m Cash generated up 19% to R852m EPS of 17c for continuing operations, compared to loss of 408.9c in 1H20 HEPS of 17.6c for total operations, compared to 0.3c in 1H20 Erik Smuts, CEO, notes “Nampak had a very
Tiger Brands has established a venture capital fund as part of its effort to drive growth. The venture capital fund will be launched in June 2021 and aims to give Food and Beverage startups the much-needed access to capital and capability required to grow their businesses. The fund will assist entrepreneurs in securing capital while
In terms of paragraph 3.59 of the Listings Requirements of the JSE Limited, Famous Brands is delighted to advise shareholders that Ms Fagmeedah Petersen-Cook has been appointed as an independent non-executive director to the board of directors of Famous Brands (“the Board”), and member of the Audit and Risk, Investment and Remuneration Committees. This appointment
Groot Drakenstein – Bruce Henderson, who has served as CEO of RFG for 22 years, is to retire in September this year and will be succeeded by Pieter Hanekom. Hanekom, 56, is currently the group’s deputy CEO and will be promoted to CEO on 1 October 2021. He joined RFG in 2015 as managing director
Africa’s e-commerce market could grow by more than $14.5 billion between 2025-2030 according to an IFC report. The report finds this can be achieved by increasing the number of women selling on online platforms and by providing them with better training and financial support to help them match sales made by men. The report, Women and
Lewis Group overcame the adverse impact of the Covid-19 trading restrictions to deliver a strong operating performance for the year to March 2021, with headline earnings increasing by 126.4% to R463.0 million. A total dividend of 328 cents per share has been declared, an increase of 77.3% over last year. The group’s balance sheet remains
1GB launch promo with data valid for one year PnP Mobile customers can now RICA their SIM cards through a completely paperless process. “Pick n Pay and our partners, TymeBank, are making it possible for our PnP Mobile customers to enjoy a completely simplified mobile SIM card purchase and registration process. They will no longer
Fintech startup and buy now pay later (BNPL) provider Payflex says that the part-payment platform grew from a shopper base of 2 000 to 85 000 in 12 months and its customer base soared from 70 merchants in 2019 to over 750 active stores this year. In addition, online merchants in SA which offer a buy
Zapper and Yoyo (previously wiGroup) are working together to broaden interoperability in the QR code space, giving their merchants access to more payment options with a single QR code, ensuring customers can pay quickly and safely with their favourite mobile payment option. This partnership between Zapper and Yoyo is currently available at the Famous Brands’
Bottles by PnP adds Smart Shopper points to all purchases and adds 100% recycled paper bags for all Bottles deliveries Pick n Pay Smart Shoppers can now earn points on their on-demand delivery orders with the Bottles by PnP app. This makes Pick n Pay the only retailer in South Africa to offer loyalty points
Checkers Sixty60 is now available in all nine provinces in South Africa – after launching in Polokwane, Limpopo, today – and has created more than 2 100 new jobs since this one-hour on-demand grocery delivery service was first launched in late 2019. In the past three months, Sixty60 has rolled-out to over 40 new areas,
According to The World Health Organisation, World Food Safety Day “draws the attention and inspires action to help prevent, detect and manage food safety risks in order to promote the availability of safe and healthy food for all.” The theme of the year is “safe food now for a healthy tomorrow” which stresses that the
The Shoprite Group is adding 39 solar-powered refrigerated rigid trucks to its existing solar-powered fleet of 749 trailers by the end of June 2021. At present, the Group has a total fleet of 855 trucks and 1 247 trailers of which 749 are solar-powered trailers (473 are refrigerated trailers and 276 units are not refrigerated,
The current pandemic has had a massive impact on retail both globally and locally, and we are seeing a number of trends in this sector come to fruition at a fairly rapid pace. Shopping malls are needing to adapt and evolve, online has seen a surge together with the increase of app development, and in-store
RFG reported a resilient operating performance in the Covid-19 impacted trading environment in the six months to March 2021, with the group increasing headline earnings by 46.4% to R119 million. The Western-Cape based food producer, which owns market-leading brands Rhodes, Bull Brand, Magpie, Squish, Bisto, Hinds and Pakco, increased operating profit by 14.9% to R185
Workday Human Capital Management will help company digitalise employee practices Workday, a leader in enterprise cloud applications for finance and human resources, has been chosen to support Pick n Pay as it brings its employee experience into the digital age. In 1967, Raymond Ackerman purchased the first four Pick n Pay stores in Cape Town,
In terms of paragraph 3.4(b) of the JSE Limited (“JSE”) Listings Requirements, the board of directors of Famous Brands is satisfied that a reasonable degree of certainty exists that the Group’s financial results for the year ended 28 February 2021 (“review period”) will differ by at least 20% from those reported for the prior comparable
The Tribunal has unconditionally approved the large merger whereby Trafigura PTE Ltd (“Trafigura”) will acquire Puma Energy Holdings PTE Ltd (“Puma Energy”). Trafigura is an existing shareholder of Puma Energy. Post-merger, Trafigura will own and control Puma Energy. Trafigura is a private company incorporated in accordance with the company laws of Singapore. It is an
Shoprite Holdings has appointed respected and experienced accounting professionals and board members Nonkululeko Gobodo and Linda de Beer to its board as independent non-executive directors. Both will also serve as members of the company’s Audit & Risk Committee. Gobodo is a chartered accountant and pioneer in her field who established her own successful accounting and
Pick n Pay is encouraging customers to use over R200-million in unredeemed Smart Shopper points – the amount unclaimed by customers in the last 12 months. These points have been accumulated from everyday swipes and bonus points, or through Pick n Pay partners, such as BP. Pick n Pay’s Smart Shopper – South Africa’s favourite
Food gardens and small-scale farms have seen a marked resurgence in recent years. As many as 2.2 million South African households have some form of garden or farm adjacent to their homes. This movement is key to providing food security, which is why the Shoprite Group supports several such initiatives in the Free State and elsewhere in
By Allan Dickson, Independent Chairman at redPanda Software As furniture and fashion retailers continue their recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, and redouble their efforts to grow their customer base both online and in-store, credit will play an increasingly important role. The emergence and evolution of credit offered by furniture and fashion retailers in South Africa
The Shoprite Group’s own Corporate Communications team won four awards and received a certificate of excellence at the 2021 Africa SABRE Awards for work delivered during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Sabre Awards (an international Award in existence for 7 years, and the Sabre African Awards since 2017) recognise “superior achievement in branding, reputation and engagement” around the world are
DPO South Africa’s MD, Peter Harvey, comments on the Post Office’s court action against PostNet and the South African Express Parcel Association (SAEPA) over the delivery of packages weighing 1kg and less. “There is a strong argument for a robust, well funded and effective Post Office. However, in the absence of that, we must ensure
SA Canegrowers is thrilled to announce a new partnership with Proudly South African (Proudly SA) to encourage consumers to buy local sugar. This partnership promises to give new impetus to the SA Canegrowers’ Home Sweet Home campaign to promote the buying of locally produced sugar. Over the past decade, the sugar industry has faced critical challenges including
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
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 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
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
