Woolworths Holdings announced another appointment this week. Gail Kelly will join the board as a non-executive director effective from next month. Comments Susman: "As our group grows to become a major southern hemisphere retailer of scale, it is a real honour to have a world-class mind such as Gail's to help us navigate the fast-moving environment of global retail."

Danette Breitenbach attended a media briefing by Jaco Prinsloo, Marieke Witjes and Bart van Dijk, consultants of A.T. Kearney Johannesburg and authors of the second African Retail Development Index (ARDI) titled Retail in Africa: still the next big thing, which serves to emphasise that investing in Africa is a long-term game, and that the continent has to be viewed as a set of different countries (of which Gabon is ranked the new number one).

Beyond Retail 2015 took place on Friday. The focus of the fifth consecutive event was on reinventing retail and how business models need to harness the innovation the industry demands. Similarly, Douglas Kruger shares six reasons why business innovation is critical, in the second installation of his 'Relentlessly Relevant' series. "South African consumers no longer care about legacy. They only care about and respond to one thing, and that is: How are you innovating into my reality today?"

Jessica Taylor, Retail Editor (@Biz_Retail)
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