Retail in South Africa is changing. As customers become more digitally empowered, the traditional, staff-led in-store experience is being replaced with self-service, smartphone-driven journeys. Tobie van Schalkwyk, Business Unit Lead at Duxbury Networking. Image supplied Shoppers want speed, independence, and seamless access to the same product information and services they have online. But while most…
Enrico Ferigolli Pick n Pay continues to invest meaningfully in technology as it battles for market share with Shoprite Group’s Sixty60 and other retailers in the fast-growing on-demand grocery delivery market. Pick n Pay is in the midst of a turnaround after losing market share to competitors in recent years. In its 2023 financial year,…
South Africa’s e-commerce sector isn’t growing fast enough. Offshore e-commerce retailers, such as Shein and Temu, are rapidly gaining ground in South Africa’s retail clothing, textile, footwear and leather sector, displacing thousands of local jobs, including in e-commerce. This is creating an urgent need for digital transformation, including the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI). The…
As the retail calendar barrels toward Black Friday and the festive season, brands are bracing for what could be a very unpredictable peak period. The economic landscape is volatile, consumer behaviour is shifting, and external pressures, from tariffs to supply chain disruptions, are mounting. Why This Year’s Peak Will Be Different “This year’s retail holidays…
MoneyBadger’s partnership with Peach Payments has gone live, with the intention to broaden Bitcoin adoption and use in retail. African payment services provider Peach Payments has partnered with South African Bitcoin and crypto payments solution provider MoneyBadger to enable its merchants to accept payment in Bitcoin and other crypto assets. The companies cite research by…
Quentin Daffarn, Managing Director, UC Wireless. South Africa’s retail landscape has undergone a profound transformation over the past few years, with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic accelerating existing pressures and introducing new urgent challenges. “Fixed-location retailers are asking the same critical question,” says Quentin Daffarn, Managing Director of UC‑Wireless. “How do we stay relevant in the…
Trade Link CEO Ahmed Laher A lot goes on behind the scenes when major South African retailers modernise or migrate their IT systems. For key implementation partners like Trade Link, planning and preparation can start years before the project begins. Trade Link, a specialist in retail IT systems, supports over 50% of leading FMCG retailers…
Washington, DC CNN — Spending at US retailers fell in March as consumers pulled back after the banking crisis fueled recession fears. Retail sales, which are adjusted for seasonality but not for inflation, fell by 1% in March from the prior month, the Commerce Department reported on Friday. That was steeper than an expected 0.4%…
As we headed into 2025, the stage seemed set for South Africa’s interest rates to drop, with inflation within the South African Reserve Bank’s (SARB) target range. However, global factors – including heightened geopolitical instability and tariff-related tensions – prompted SARB to hold firm. This interest rate stagnation has had both direct and indirect effects…
Charles Antwi-Boahen Charles Antwi-Boahen is the founder of Kab-Fam, an electronics and home appliance retailer that has grown from modest beginnings into a 16-store chain across Ghana. In a recent interview with How we made it in Africa, he shared some of the key business lessons he has learned over the past decade. One of…
