RETAIL NEWS ON FASTMOVING

SA shoppers spent more than expected in February, with retail sales growing 1.1% year on year, led by expenditure in the textiles, footwear and clothing sector. read more

L’Oreal got more revenue from Asia than from Western Europe for the first time last quarter as the region’s surging demand for luxury products continued to resist the drag of a slower Chinese economy. read more

There is a tendency among criminals to use the Easter long weekend - and its spike in shopping - to their advantage, says Richard Phillips, joint CEO of retail cash management company Cash Connect. read more

Checkers hot cross buns are trending on social media and South Africans are in stitches following the release of a viral video in which a false-positive breathalyser reading was recorded for a police officer. read more

Clicks Group says it grew headline earnings by 12.9% to R763.3m in the six months to February thanks in part to better sales of its private-label products and higher profits from its distribution business. read more

Mulberry has launched a partnership with online luxury fashion retailer Farfetch to strengthen its international omnichannel strategy. read more

While there’s pessimism in the air with regards to global product sales, every day there are also groundbreaking changes being implemented by brands and activists who genuinely want to “be the change” when it comes to sustainability. Influencers and businesses are seeking to establish new markets through innovation, leveraging their ideas and products to help fight climate change. read more

Thrift is increasingly going mainstream and a Gumtree survey estimates it could be worth more than R1trn in terms of items in SA households that are not being used, that the owners would happily sell. read more

Debenhams’ lenders took control of the ailing retailer after it went into administration, wiping out shareholders including billionaire Mike Ashley in the latest corporate failure on Britain’s high street. read more

Pick n Pay, under its joint venture deal in Zimbabwe, has approved an expansion programme in the troubled country despite waning consumer spending power and disturbances to operations in the past few months.  read more

Made by entrepreneurial spirited local gin brand Sugarbird®, the Sugarbird Gin Eggs is the brainchild of co-owners Nzeka Biyela and Rob Heyns.  read more

The start of 2019 has been bleak for most SA retailers, raising questions about the future of the sector. read more

Data shows that 2 out of 3 South African consumers participated in Black Friday shopping at some point, according to Isana Cordier, sector head for consumer goods and services, corporate and investment banking at ABSA.  read more

Ted Baker has agreed to a new joint venture with Shanghai LongShang Trading Company to expand its brand in the East Asia region.  read more

Debenhams’ lenders took control of the ailing British retailer after it went into administration, wiping out shareholders including billionaire Mike Ashley in the latest corporate failure on the high street. read more

Over the next two weeks, Pick n Pay will give 20 000 customers a free reusable bag every day in stores across the country.  read more

Pick n Pay, one of South Africa’s largest supermarket chains rose after the group reported turnover growth of almost 10 percent in the financial year to the end of March, underscoring the resilience of its South African division, which clawed back market share from competitors. read more

Smartphones have become the go-to technology for online shopping, with more than 20percent of South African consumers using them weekly over other mobile devices. read more

Retail is not dead, and physical stores are not dead, but "boring retail" is dead, according to Linah Maigurira, Google's head of retail business in South Africa.  read more

Nestlé is looking to take a bite of the fast-growing vegan foods market with a range of plant-based burgers, saying its recipes could compete for taste with traditional beef patties. read more

Shares in Superdry fell more than 11% after founder Julian Dunkerton narrowly forced his way back into the company, which sparked the exit of most of its board members, including top executives. read more

More and more consumers are buying into the idea of loyalty programmes — and it’s paying off for retailers in terms of valuable information, as well as increased revenues.  read more

Shoprite created 90 new jobs with the opening of its new store in Botleng, just outside Delmas, this week. The store’s total staff complement is 111, which includes 81 youth (between the ages of 18 and 35) and 76 women. read more

Majid Al Futtaim Holding, an operator of French retailer Carrefour SA outlets, plans to boost its presence in Kenya as it looks to expand into eastern and southern Africa.  read more

Sainsbury has lost its status as Britain’s number two supermarket group by market share to takeover target Asda for the first time in four years, industry data showed. read more

The end of the bagged salad could be nigh, as British supermarkets look to install ‘pick your own’ vegetable aisles by the end of this year. read more

US retail sales unexpectedly fell in February, the latest sign that economic growth has shifted into low gear as stimulus from $1.5-trillion in tax cuts and increased government spending fades. read more

The Shoprite Group is set to change the face of retail in Zambia with the opening of the new world-class store in the Woodlands/Kabulonga area. read more

At present, e-business in Africa remains a challenge. It may be better than it ever has been, but the truth is that lower literacy and internet penetration levels continue to limit the growth on the continent. However, this will not remain the status quo for long, as smartphone proliferation increases, data costs decrease and usability improves. Wallets, now commonplace, are an excellent example of this', bypassing the continent's challenges around depositing, withdrawing and transferring cash, as well as buying airtime and electricity. read more

In an intensifying war for consumer share and brand growth and recognition, SA’s big five supermarket brands will need to do more to differentiate themselves when it comes to customer satisfaction. read more

Pop-up stores are a smart way for mall owners to fill empty retail space on a temporary basis, and for businesses to punt their product without the overheads of the full store experience. read more

Despite a subdued outlook for the South African retail sector in 2019, global fashion retailer H&M has firmly underlined its ongoing commitment to the local retail market with the announcement of two store openings scheduled in upcoming weeks, this along with several local partnerships placing strong emphasis on the brand’s ongoing sustainability work.  read more

British online supermarket pioneer Ocado has signed a partnership agreement with Australia’s Coles, its fifth major overseas deal in less than 18 months as food retailers around the globe respond to online competition. read more

South Africa’s load-shedding woes are not limited to the inconvenience suffered by consumers. The country’s retailers are set for a dramatic spike in shoplifting, warns one facial recognition for business specialist. read more

For the most part, it has been a dismal year for South African retailers; elevated household debt, higher fuel prices and an increase in value-added tax squeezed consumer spending. However, Ackermans, South Africa’s longest standing value retailer, performed well over 2018 reporting growth of just over 10% which is three times more than the industry benchmark.  read more

Confusion around best-before dates is widespread, causing unnecessary food waste. And in a country that's already food insecure, binning good food is not only unconscionable, it's plain wrong. read more

Fruit lovers no longer have to travel to Europe to taste the goodness of blood oranges. Pick n Pay has added rare blood oranges to its fresh produce offering making it the first retailer to offer this unique fruit to customers.  read more

Facebook’s Instagram is trialling a feature that lets US users shop from the photo-sharing app by using a “checkout” option on items tagged for sale, the company said. read more

Retail spending showed signs of recovery in January, growing 1.2% on an annualised basis, slightly faster than analysts had expected. read more

With small businesses already dealing with hikes in VAT and petrol, coupled with decreased consumer spending, load-shedding is a bridge too far, particularly for restauranteurs. read more

Asos has reported a rise in its quarterly sales, as growth at home in the UK continues to outperform its foreign markets. read more

British supermarket groups Sainsbury’s and Asda have committed to deliver £1bn of annual price cuts as they attempt to salvage their proposed combination after being dealt a potentially fatal blow by the regulator. read more

South Africa has seen the Black Friday sales phenomenon grow exponentially in recent years, quickly entrenching itself as a major calendar event on the local retail and shopping scene. The Black Friday sales bonanza, which takes place towards the end of November, is now bigger in SA than ever before. It is a boon for retailers, shopping centres and consumers. However, is Black Friday an emerging threat for the traditional December festive season sales boom? read more

Phenyo Sebaeng (28) had to borrow money from two of his close friends in order to buy a bus ticket from Rustenburg to Cape Town, where he had secured a meeting with a buyer at the Shoprite Group's home office in January 2017. read more

Pick n Pay’s Smart Shopper will give customers double personalised discounts to help them save even more in the next few weeks.  read more

Sweden’s H&M, the world’s second-biggest fashion retailer, posted local-currency sales growth for its fiscal first quarter that matched analysts’ forecasts, on Friday, while net sales were slightly higher than expected. read more

Consumer goods manufacturer and distributor Libstar, whose brands include Lancewood cheese and Denny Mushrooms, says it adjusted to the slowdown in consumer spending by launching hundreds of new food products.  read more

Plastic manufacturing and recycling company, Verigreen, has been awarded a multi-million rand contract to supply 25 different products under the Shoprite Group’s Ritebrand and Housebrand labels. read more

After years of efforts to make Reebok profitable again, Adidas Chief Executive Officer Kasper Rorsted has said he’s ready for the next hurdle - getting more people to actually buy its products. read more

A July 2018 Eighty20 report found that the average South African consumer is subscribed to as many as nine different rewards programmes, covering retail, petrol, and banking, among other sectors. read more

Libstar, the consumer goods group that listed on the JSE in May 2018, announced a maiden cash dividend of 22c a share on Wednesday as profits after tax in 2018 edged 1% higher to R236m. read more

Morrisons has recorded another year of growth in sales and profit as chief executive David Potts boasted that the Big 4 grocer’s turnaround scheme was “well on track”.  read more

AVI, whose brands include Bakers biscuits and seafood business I&J, said on its footwear businesses struggled the most in the six months ended December. read more

Pick n Pay has introduced dedicated shop space to promote local South African products, produced by small businesses, to customers. The ‘Meet the Maker’ showcase will be trialled in eight stores across the country over a three-month period.  read more

French retail giant Carrefour is using blockchain technology to let consumers trace information about the source of its milk products. read more

Sammy Mhaule got his first taste of entrepreneurship as a 14-year-old when he sold ice cream on the streets of Tembisa. Today he supplies sparkling juice to Checkers Hyper in Gauteng and Checkers in the Free State, but the journey from ice cream peddler to business owner hasn't always been smooth sailing. read more

Former Clicks CEO David Kneale, who helped the retail group break into the JSE’s top 40 index in 2018, has joined the Woolworths board.  read more

2018 was a transformational year for the Group, whose interim results were affected by a number of factors. While the first half performance is below expectations it is not a reflection of the fundamental strength of the business. read more

SUPERMARKETS are to start growing fresh produce in ‘pick your own’ aisles. read more

A decade ago, just about any developer or listed property fund that owned a mall or built a new one, no matter how big or small, was virtually assured of making a packet. Back then, retail was still the most sought-after investment subsector of the SA real estate market and shopping centres comfortably outperformed offices, warehouses and factories on the total return front. read more

Amid all the other pressures in the economy, food inflation has been the one relatively happy place the past year. read more

Retail sales for December 2018 contracted by 1.4% year on year, from a downwardly revised 2.9% year on year in November (previously 3.1%).  read more

Two independent South African retailers have won the prestigious title of International Retailer of the Year (South Africa) at the 2019 IGA International Retailers of the Year awards.  read more

More than 4,300 department stores are set to close this year as the retail apocalypse rips through Payless ShoeSource, Gymboree, JCPenney, Gap, Victoria's Secret, and Sears. But one Wall Street analyst says mall giants should easily weather these closures.  read more

Ray Kelvin, the founder of British fashion brand Ted Baker, resigned as its CEO following allegations of harassment. read more

With the buzz from Black Friday and the festive season now in the rear-view mirror, retailers are looking ahead to ensure the continuation of ‘traffic’ into malls, high streets, pop-up stores, websites, apps and other channels. Today’s retailer is anywhere, anytime, and they’re providing greater levels of personalisation with their services.  read more

If you want to engage customers and drive foot traffic in your store, then an ecommerce presence is essential. It might sound counter-intuitive, but in this modern shopping environment, online and in-store work together, not against each other, to attract and retain customers. These days people are shopping online more than ever, so not having a digital storefront means you’re missing out on a lot of potential customers. read more

Mall of Africa is excited to announce that a new Pick n Pay store will open at the centre in the third quarter of this year.  read more

The Procter & Gamble Company announced the launch of its first new retail hair care brand globally in four years, inspired by and co-designed with women in Cape Town during the water crisis Capetonians experienced in early 2018.  read more

The R2.7bn deal that clothing retailer Edcon reached with its banks, landlords and the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) will free it up to push through with its survival plan, says CEO Grant Pattison. read more

Growth in trading density (sales per square metre) in 2018 at monitored shopping centres in South Africa and Namibia continued to improve after a lacklustre 2017, according to a retail property barometer.  read more

British American Tobacco (BAT), the second-biggest international tobacco company, reported higher full-year adjusted sales and profit, helped by cigarette market share gains and growth in vaping devices.  read more

Harrods has announced a partnership with Farfetch Black & White Solutions to offer a new and improved global ecommerce platform. read more

Shoprite Holdings is in exclusive talks with Thibault Square Financial Services – linked to billionaire Christo Wiese – over the acquisition, redemption and cancellation of deferred Shoprite shares held by Thibault. read more

Shoppers can now earn bonus Pick n Pay Smart Shopper loyalty points everywhere they shop when paying with their TymeBank debit card. That means that not only will the first fully licensed digital bank in South Africa save shoppers time and money, but it will also reward them through Pick n Pay’s Smart Shopper loyalty programme.  read more

Shoprite shareholders have had their interim dividend cut 24% as the grocery chain battles with losses from outside SA, and shrinking profit in its home market. read more

With the buzz from Black Friday and the festive season now in the rear-view mirror, retailers are looking ahead to ensure the continuation of ‘traffic’ into malls, high streets, pop-up stores, websites, apps and other channels. Today’s retailer is anywhere, anytime, and they’re providing greater levels of personalisation with their services.  read more

UK and Europe shopping centre owner Hammerson’s dividend will not grow over the next two years while the company, the fourth-largest property group on the JSE, sells more than R9bn worth of its weaker UK and Irish assets.  read more

Oh my goodness! There is no protein in celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay's "Oh My Goodness!" water, as claimed by retailer Checkers. read more

British retailers plan the least investment in seven years ahead of the country’s departure from the EU, and job cuts in the business sector have gathered pace, a major survey showed. read more

Retailers across the world continue to face strong headwinds. They have suffered a sharp drop in business in recent years, with bankruptcy filings and store closings almost becoming commonplace.  read more

It is no secret that local retailers are having a torrid time. The economy remains in the doldrums with investors and consumers spooked by debilitating load shedding, ongoing job cuts and a volatile political environment. Consumers naturally cut back on spending in uncertain times, and retailers are undoubtedly feeling the heat. read more

Woolworths Holdings announced results for the 26 weeks ended 23 December 2018. read more

Christmas is a distant memory already, but thanks to Woolies and their customers, meals will be given to those who need it most throughout 2019.  read more

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 myTFGworld.com online marketplace to its customers. read more

Shoprite demonstrated its heart for the Khayelitsha community when it replaced the computers and equipment a local school lost in a recent burglary. read more

Bain’s Cape Mountain Whisky, the proudly South African and internationally award-winning single grain whisky, has launched a limited edition 15-Year-Old Single Grain Whisky exclusive to Big5 Duty Free Cape Town International and OR Tambo International Airports, and The James Sedgwick Distillery in Wellington. read more

TymeBank, South Africa’s first fully licensed digital bank, will go live in 500 Pick n Pay and Boxer stores next week in preparation for the formal launch later this month.  read more

US e-commerce giant Amazon said it would not build a new headquarters in New York City due to opposition from "some state and local politicians," though most New Yorkers support its plan.  read more

Consumer spend over the traditional holiday period in December reflected a year-on-year increase, according to BankservAfrica’s data which measured the value and volume of sales in December. read more

US retail sales recorded their biggest drop in more than nine years in December as receipts fell across the board, suggesting a sharp slowdown in economic activity at the end of 2018. read more

The sudden departure of two Australia-based nonexecutive directors of Woolworths has fuelled speculation that the troubled retailer will be forced to announce another huge write-down related to the R21bn acquisition of the David Jones department store. read more

Available economic activity data has shown that the economy ended last year on a weaker footing, with December retail sales figures being the latest to disappoint, declining for the first time in nearly two years.  read more

Woolworths has categorically denied allegations by Michelle Legge, who founded beverage company Superlatte in 2016, that the retailer has copied her product. read more

The community of Thokoza welcomed the opening of Matlala Market and it will now offer customers greater variety, a fresh offering and money services under one roof and on their doorstep.  read more

Dis-Chem’s Christmas sales have been hurt by a strike, the pharmacy chain warned in a trading update. read more

According to the latest Mastercard Love Index, South Africans are willing to dig deeper into their pockets to spoil the ones they love on Valentine’s Day, splashing out on experiences like dining out and travel rather than on traditional gifts.  read more

Robust liquor sales and the inclusion of the pharmaceutical distribution business it bought in 2018 year boosted grocery retailer Spar Group in the weeks leading up to Christmas. read more

One of the biggest frustrations instore shoppers face is not being able to find products they’re looking for - whether they are sold out, hard to find or simply not practical to keep in stock. And customers hardly ever ask about them if they’re not. While these missed opportunities may seem inconsequential, they are starting to add up in this competitive retail environment where every sale counts.  read more

The Co-op has confirmed that it is looking to develop a network of franchise stores following successful trials of the model. read more