Shoprite is still SA's top retailer - The Times Sowetan Retail Survey

The survey is based on 2,750 interviews conducted with South African adults aged 18 years and over, with 2,000 interviews in metropolitan SA and 750 interviews in non-metropolitan areas.

* Grocery stores were removed from this survey, and the winning grocery store is based on the data gained from the Top Brands survey which is conducted with a slightly larger sample at the same time as the Retail Survey.

Notable wins and changes

Shoprite continued its legacy as the top retailer in South Africa for the sixth consecutive year claiming the Overall Grand Prix. Pick n Pay, still rivalling its red and yellow opponent, retained its second position, while Clicks pushed Edgars out of third place.

Two new additions were added to the survey this year - the Online Retail category as well as pharmacies.

PicknPay.co.za was the most popular online store with Woolworths.co.za a close second and Kalahari.com in third. Clicks was ranked the top shop for medical supplies in the Pharmacies sector and Shoprite's Medirite claimed second place with Dis-Chem third.

Pepcell aced the Telecoms sector, moving ahead of cellular network rivals MTN Store and Vodacom Shop which now sits in second and third place. In the 'Appliance Stores' category, Game retained its first position with Shoprite in second place up from fifth and Clicks in third.

In the Health & Beauty sector, Clicks and Dis-Chem held first and second place respectively and The Body Shop showed an impressive jump into third position up from seventh in 2013.

In the Shoe Stores category two new entries, Edgars and Woolworths, claimed first and second place respectively. Premium footwear brand, Spitz, the former leading retailer in its category, got knocked down into third place.

While Musica remained the top shop in the Entertainment Stores category, TOP CD made a break-through to second place up from fifth and moved Shoprite down into third.

Cashbuild cemented itself in first position for most popular Hardware Store followed by Build it in second, and Mica leaped into third from fifth position last year.

Totalsports remained at the forefront in the Sports and Outdoor category while new-comer to the category, Sportscene, claimed second place from Mr Price Sports which was edged into third.

Grocery Stores winners were taken from the recent Sunday Times Top Brands Survey (due to larger sampling) marking Shoprite as the leading retailer followed by Pick n Pay in second and Spar in third.

Influence of print advertising

Last year the survey was extended to evaluate the influence of print newspaper advertisements in driving South Africans to purchase at specific outlets.

Esmé Deken, Head of Market Intelligence at Times Media noted that, "Newspaper inserts are still used extensively by consumers when looking for special deals and many inserts persuade consumers to try out stores they wouldn't normally frequent."

The survey revealed that 80% of consumers found newspaper advertising very relevant. 48% of consumers were guided by inserts that informed them about special offers and promotions. Inserts were found to provide more value to shoppers and had the highest conversion rate in persuading consumers to purchase at a specific retailer.

Trevor Ormerod, GM: Group Sales at Times Media says, "The Times Sowetan Retail and Shopper survey is a valuable tool for marketers to gain insight into the mind of the consumer, their behaviour and how to effectively connect with them. Print advertising remains a key investment to not only broaden consumer reach
but also to convert potential customers into buyers."

Deken concludes that, "Overall, more consumers preferred to receive advertising in newspapers than any other medium and were said to contain the advertising that people looked forward to most."