RETAIL NEWS ON FASTMOVING

Checkers has opened the doors to its state-of-the-art 2 330 m² flagship supermarket at the Constantia Emporium as the retailer continues to take innovation to new heights. read more

In Australia, David Jones's sales declined 2.1%, with the company saying a store refurbishment contributed to the decline. read more

The retail sector is under increasing pressure as consumers have shrinking disposable income in a strained economy. Maintaining share of wallet is critical. Relying solely on a push route to market strategy from manufacturers into retailers is not enough to get consumers buying products. A pull strategy needs to coexist with the push to drive brand consumption. Integrating these strategies requires intelligent and insightful decision-making. This, in turn, requires data generated through smart technology which provides line of sight across the value chain from manufacturer to distribution, retailer to the consumer. read more

The Competition Commission Inquiry into Grocery Retail, published on Monday, called for an end to the exclusive leases negotiated by national retail chains in all shopping malls across the country in a bid to open up access to markets for smaller players.  read more

Consumer expectations are rapidly shifting as technologies such as mobile, geolocation, social media and increasingly, Internet of Things devices and wearables, connect people to a world of easily accessible information and convenient services. With the ability to browse, compare and order with a few swipes and taps, consumers are becoming trained to value convenience and service above nearly anything else.  read more

As we enter the festive season, demand for Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) increases rapidly, often leaving manufacturers scrambling to fulfill orders from their distribution channel. If demand cannot be met, then loss of revenue is inevitable. However, over-production is not an ideal solution either, as it can leave manufacturers sitting with unsold stock that costs money to store.  read more

Black Friday, once only a North American marketing frenzy, has become a critical entry in the calendars of South African retail business owners. read more

Pick n Pay has released five of its nationwide in-store Black Friday deals as a teaser of what customers can expect this Friday. read more

Checkers has launched its exclusive on-demand one-hour grocery delivery service named Sixty60. It is South Africa’s first 60-minute grocery delivery service from a supermarket chain, as Checkers relentlessly innovates to respond to customers’ demands for hyper-convenience. read more

Macy’s cut its annual profit forecast for the second time in 2019, as the department store operator blamed weak international tourism and sluggish mall traffic for the first drop in same-store sales in two years. read more

South Africa has been named one of the unhealthiest countries in the world1. Complicating this is the fact that healthy eating is often seen as expensive or complicated. Pick n Pay will now help customers make more informed choices in a major healthy eating drive to make healthier eating cheaper, easier, and more accessible. read more

South Africa’s leading e-commerce group expects to ship at least one order every second, with roughly 10 000 boxes leaving their warehouses every hour this shopping season.  read more

Quality frozen meals are growing in popularity in today’s fast-paced world as consumers are increasingly hard-pressed for time to prepare meals from scratch. Locally Checkers is leading the freezer revolution with Gourmade: it’s exclusive new range of wholesome premium frozen meals. read more

As South Africans have joined the global rush to benefit from massive Black Friday discounts, the annual discount extravaganza has become an attractive opportunity for local small businesses to increase sales volumes and turnover. read more

Chinese consumers spent a record amount on Alibaba platforms on Monday during the annual “Singles’ Day” buying spree, the world’s biggest 24-hour shopping event, which was launched with a glitzy show by US singer Taylor Swift.  read more

Listed retailer Spar has published its financial results for the full year ended September 2019, reporting an 8.4% jump in revenue, with operating profits up 7.2% despite tough conditions across its operations. read more

Today’s retailers face a difficult challenge. Online shopping is attracting consumers to the convenience of desktop browsing, and away from the buzz of brick and mortar stores.  read more

More than ten years ago, Woolworths pioneered its own label of eco-friendly products in South Africa with the launch of its Earth Friendly range of household cleaning products.  read more

Truworths, which was forced to write down its UK business by a third recently, said that retail sales in that country were flat in the 18 weeks to November 4, although its African operations performed better. read more

British shops are being battered as the shift to e-commerce, intense competition and the fallout from Brexit cause catastrophic levels of store closures and job cuts. read more

SA consumers risk paying a lot more than they bargained for if they are careless when shopping online this Black Friday, warns Fortinet. read more

Pick n Pay launched its weekly Black November deals for its Gauteng and Western Cape online shoppers last Monday and customers wasted no time in reviewing and securing their favourite deals. read more

Richemont’s share price took a hit after the company disappointed the market with its results for the six months to end-September. read more

Any deal would be impossible without the backing of the Italian billionaire who owns 16% of the group and has China in his sights. read more

Physical stores still matter, whether a retailer has an online presence or not, according to John Ryan, stores editor of Retail Week, a UK-based news magazine, website, and retail data service. read more

SA’s largest food producer, Tiger Brands, is considering disposing of its value-added meat products business (Vamp), saying on Friday it had determined it was not an ideal fit in the business.  read more

Just days after indicating that the Shoprite board will discuss the future of Christo Wiese as chair of the company in the coming months, Prof Shirley Zinn, the lead independent director of Shoprite, resigned. read more

Dis-Chem Pharmacies said on Thursday it was continuing its store expansion programme, eyeing additional market share in a part of the retail sector that has proved resilient in the face of SA’s weak economy. read more

Fifteen preschools in and around Kathu recently benefited from an extensive teacher training programme following a partnership with Shoprite. read more

Checkers is the most experienced South African supermarket in the Black Friday game, after being the first food retailer to introduce this one-day sales promotion locally in 2014. read more

Online retail is projected to reach 1.4 percent of total retail in South Africa, based on an estimated R1 trillion to be spent via traditional channels in 2018, according to findings of the Online Retail in South Africa 2019 study, conducted by World Wide Worx with the support of Visa and Platinum Seed.  read more

Small businesses can take advantage of Black Friday by winning customers and keep them coming back for more according to the Vice President of New Customer Acquisition, Viresh Harduth.  read more

The international turnover of Rhodes Food Group, which makes Bull Brand corned meat and Bisto gravies, grew 8.8% in its year to end-September boosted by a weaker rand and exports of higher-value products to the US. read more

Retailers’ gloves are off in the battle to gain market share ahead of Black Friday, with several deals already being unveiled to attract customers. read more

Shoprite’s share price jumped by 6% in opening trading on Monday after the group reported turnover growth of more than 7% in the three months to September. But by later afternoon, its share price was down almost a percent. read more

Pick n Pay has launched weekly exclusive Black November ‘teaser’ deals for its online customers across Gauteng and the Western Cape in the lead up to Black Friday on 29 November.  read more

Discount pharmaceutical retailer Dis-Chem expects a drop in half-year earnings due to one-off costs such as a change in bonus policy and a strike by employees. read more

Taste Holdings announced that it is selling its Starbucks franchise business in South Africa for R7m. read more

The persistent drought in the Northern and Eastern Cape shows no signs of abating and so the Shoprite Group is reaching out to hard-hit communities through a number of initiatives. read more

South African retailers have been battered by poor trading conditions, rising job losses and weak economic growth, which has made it difficult for companies to pass on costs to their customers.  read more

Tesco has signed up for a project that will see it source green electricity directly from wind farms, solar farms and solar panels on its own stores. read more

People have less disposable income. Self-learning robots and algorithms are taking over menial jobs once held by a human being. Large informal business sectors across Africa are giving malls a run for their money. These are, indeed, anxious times for the shopping centre industry. Its greatest purpose today is to figure out how to evolve to these dynamic changes. read more

Black Friday continues to gain momentum in South Africa, with many customers eagerly awaiting Black Friday deals on 29 November 2019. This year is certainly no different, with customers looking to make the most of their year-end purchases.  read more

Moolman Group, in partnership with Twin City Developments and Vuno Developments, is proud to bring convenience to the township of Katlehong – with the opening of the much-anticipated Sam Ntuli Mall on 31 October 2019.  read more

LVMH, the French owner of Louis Vuitton and Givenchy, offered to buy jeweller Tiffany for about $14.5bn in a deal that would expand its access to US luxury shoppers, people familiar with the situation said. read more

Despite a difficult trading environment, the group said that trading profit in its core South African business was up 16.4%, with trading profit margin up from 2.5% to 2.8% of turnover. read more

Distell, the maker of Amarula, Klipdrift and Hunter’s Dry brands, says pressure on consumer spending is resulting in a shift to harder liquors, which will be a focus area for the group in the coming months. read more

Advisory firm Accenture suggests that traditional retailers in South Africa are putting most of their efforts into their core brick-and-mortar stores as they find online operations expensive to maintain and often unprofitable.  read more

Pick n Pay has continued to reap the benefits of its turnaround strategy, positing double-digit profit growth in the six months to end-September after an intensive focus on supply costs. read more

With the increasing dominance of retail chains, small and medium-sized retail businesses are struggling to stay competitive. To protect investments and remain in business, they have to consider all costs and thoroughly assess possible risks and related losses. For example, while it is common to forecast losses due to food spoilage, assessing problems caused by electricity failure is more complicated. read more

Millennials are driving massive evolution in retailing and, yes, we may be an emerging market, but it is a matter of time before these changes catch up with us.  read more

Checkers signed up the millionth customer to its new Xtra Savings programme, just a week following its launch on Monday 14 October.  read more

In March of 2019, Soumen Ghosh, a visiting US professor of operations and supply chain management, delivered one of the business world’s more earth-shattering lectures on disruptive technologies at the Gordon Institute of Business Science in Johannesburg. read more

Traditional retail businesses in SA could stand to lose out on the value of e-commerce due to their reluctance to embrace online business, according to a report by global management consultancy Accenture. read more

South African businesses have begun preparing for what looks to be another bumper Black Friday trading day, with sales predicted to be up 30 percent from last year, online largest payment service provider PayGate said. read more

Hearing from some of the best speakers in the retail industry, 480 minutes of thought-provoking and relevant insights, amazing networking opportunities and the exchange of ideas. The realisation that the retail sector is rapidly changing and to survive and ensure sustainability, businesses need to evolve – it is no longer a ‘nice to have’ – it’s a necessity – this was the 2019 SACSC Congress. read more

For a taste of CEO Steve Rowe’s ambitions to transform Marks & Spencer Group (M&S), look no further than its newly refurbished shop in London’s Clapham neighbourhood.  read more

Measured in real terms, retail sales increased by 1.1% year-on-year in August, following a 2% jump in July, figures released on Wednesday by Statistics South Africa showed. read more

Ackermans, one of South Africa’s longest-standing value retailers, launched its first technology-driven concept store in Sandton City, Johannesburg. read more

British supermarkets are starting to go “nude”. read more

Latest grocery market share figures from Kantar show total supermarket sales grew by 1.3% year-on-year over the 12 weeks to 6 October with Sainsbury’s continuing its recent run of better performance following investment in cutting prices and improving its offer. read more

South Africa’s top health and beauty retailers, Clicks and Dis-Chem, are both rolling out the Elixinol range of CBD full-spectrum extract products in October.  read more

The wait is over - Checkers Xtra Savings is here! Africa’s largest supermarket group has introduced its latest initiative that shows their loyalty to customers, and not the other way around.  read more

Hyde Park Corner is celebrating its golden anniversary with '50 & Fabulous’ celebrations that include exciting events, lucky draws, prizes, special offers, opportunities to give back, milestone exhibits and a whole lot more in October and November.  read more

There are two sectors on the JSE that have fallen out of favour - Property and Retail.  read more

According to Stats SA, retail figures for December 2018, showed an annual decline of 1.4% instead of the expected 2.1% growth. It seems like brick-and-mortar stores are battling against depleting footfalls and decaying consumer confidence.  read more

Black Friday has grown to be an incredibly important ‘shopping holiday’ for South African retailers with Game and Builders reporting a 24% and 33% sales increase over the period in 2018.  read more

As we head into the final stretch of the year it is time to start gearing up for the added demands of the summer season. From factories and warehouses to retail outlets, the entire retail chain is under added pressure during this seasonal time of high demand. Temporary employment services (TES) can help all areas of the retail sector to cater to this peak with additional and flexi staff exactly when and where they are needed, with the right skills for the job, and none of the administrative headache of hiring permanent or contract staff.  read more

The Shoprite Group’s significant positive impact in the countries and communities in which it operates have seen it subsidise staple products to the value of R141 million, donate surplus food and goods to the value of R60.4 million and serve more than 20 million meals to communities in need in the 2019 financial year.  read more

US sports brand Vans has removed “a small number” of submissions in a sneaker design competition including one apparently giving a shout out to Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests, as companies weigh the risks of angering China. read more

Pepco Group, a European discount retailer, has appointed former Tesco executive Trevor Masters as managing director of its largest business PEPCO. read more

Game has unveiled its reinvigorated brand and new positioning, including a new pay-off line, You’ve Got Game. The refresh aims to reconnect customers with this iconic home-grown brand in a highly engaging and relatable way, while more accurately reflecting the business as it is today – says Katherine Madley, brand and customer director. read more

Pharmaceutical health and beauty retailer Clicks rose to its highest level on the JSE after the group revised up its earlier guidance to investors, saying that it now expected double-digit growth in profits for the year to end August.  read more

With Black Friday set to fall on 29 November 2019, a number of South Africans have already begun planning their purchases. read more

Global fashion maestro, David Tlale — feted around the world for his bold and elaborate designs — has teamed up with iconic shoe brand, Crockett & Jones, to produce a must-have collection of stylish and sophisticated formal footwear for young and trendy men.  read more

Shares in Ted Baker shed more than a third of their value on Thursday, after the British fashion retailer’s second profit warning in four months on the back of what new boss Lindsay Page called the worst business conditions in decades. read more

H&M posted its first rise in quarterly pretax profit in more than two years on Thursday as the world's second-biggest fashion retailer said its drive to meet rapid changes in the market was on track. read more

Most shopping still happens in-store rather than online, but it is clear that online shopping is a significant growth engine, so stores need to do more to drive footfall. Respondents to Zebra’s 2019 Shopper Vision Study said the top two factors that get them to spend more time in brick-and-mortar stores are product availability and helpful store associates.  read more

Economic development minister Ebrahim Patel has applauded retailer Massmart’s programme to procure products from small, local suppliers, which has reached the R1bn mark. read more

Consumer data has become a sought-after asset for every kind of business, from financial services to FMCG. For a long time, retailers have been investing millions (and millions) of Rands trying to understand their consumer’s spending habits. All retailers want to be consumer-centric, to create behavioural change in a consumer’s life cycle and to maximise business-efficiency at every point in the value chain. We all want that. read more

Cartoon Network is proud to announce that it is collaborating with global beauty brand Inglot Cosmetics for a new limited-edition collection inspired by the original ambassadors of female empowerment The Powerpuff Girls. read more

Black Friday falls on 29 November 2019 and NetFlorist is offering consumers extraordinary Black Friday deals and Cyber Monday specials. This is an ideal time to buy Christmas gifts, household appliances, back-to-school items and more.  read more

Pick n Pay’s Smart Shopper loyalty programme has been named South Africa’s favourite loyalty programme for yet another year.  read more

Tesco has made the surprise announcement that its Chief Executive Dave Lewis will step down next summer and be succeeded by Ken Murphy, a renowned executive working for Walgreens Boots Alliance. read more

With only a few trading weeks left, brands have only a few weeks left to finalise their plans for Black Friday – which has grown into one of the most important fixtures on South Africa’s annual retail calendar in recent years.  read more

Steinhoff announced on Monday that Pepkor Europe has been renamed to Pepco Group. read more

Despite spearheading an ill-fated foray into Australia, Woolworths CEO Ian Moir pocketed R23m in the past year. This brings his total earnings over the past five years to R191m.  read more

In 2004, when Charmaine and Andre Krugel were asked by community members of the Huntington Trust in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, to help orphans and vulnerable children in the village, they couldn’t say no. read more

Fashion retailer Forever 21 filed for bankruptcy last week, as it joined a growing list of brick-and-mortar players who have succumbed to the onslaught of e-commerce companies such as Amazon.com. read more

Checkers Hyper revealed its state-of-the-art flagship store in Sandton City, complete with chocolatier bar, an open-flame pizza oven, an in-store Kauai and an extensive range of innovative new products. read more

Ahead of Black Friday 2019, Pick n Pay will run its “Black Friday Trial Run” deals tomorrow. These will test the new systems Pick n Pay has put place to make sure customers can take full advantage of its big deals on Black Friday at the end of November.  read more

The Co-op has launched a new smartphone app which it claims is the future of convenience retailing as it gives its members digital access to offers and services for the first time. read more

More than two thirds (68%) of the Shoprite Group’s workforce is under the age of 34, and this together with the Group’s focus on skills development and training illustrates its commitment to addressing the scourge of youth unemployment in South Africa. read more

Retailer Pick n Pay said its total debt had increased to R17bn from R1.6bn for the 53 weeks ended March 3, as a result of accounting changes. read more

Latest figures from Kantar show that growth in the Irish grocery market remained at 2.7% during the 12 weeks to 8 September, aided by shoppers stocking up on back to school essentials and Christmas gifts. read more

The retail sector, with its footprint in both urban and rural areas, has the potential to create more sustainable jobs in South Africa, given the unemployment rate. It is with this in mind that Ackermans, one of the country’s longest-standing retailers, has partnered with footwear importer and distributor, Universal Footwear, to locally design, source and produce its leather sandals. read more

A small rural community is set to supply the Spar Group with South Africa's legendary rooibos tea. read more

The Coca-Cola Company is the leading global manufacturer, retailer and marketer of non-alcoholic beverages.  read more

By 2021, over 20-million South Africans will shop online. read more

Retail sales for July marginally declined to 2 percent year on year as sales growth continued to reflect a muted demand in South Africa, with consumers’ discretionary income under strain.  read more