The coffee business - 12 Sep 2016[Jessica Tennant, Retail Editor (@Biz_Retail)] Last week Vida e Caffè announced its development plans to expand into four more African countries. "Understanding that each country and culture is unique is imperative," comments Craig Gravett, business development manager for International and Corporate, on what he believes is the key to success. read more The future of business - 5 Sep 2016[Jessica Tennant, Retail Editor (@Biz_Retail)] Famous Brands has acquired 100% of the UK's Gourmet Burger Kitchen for £120m (approximately R2.1bn), marking "the biggest deal the group has ever concluded and one which will transform the future of the business", says Kevin Hedderwick, the company's group strategic advisor responsible for M&A activity. Speaking of the future of business, this year's FNB Franchising Leadership Summit was about disruptive innovations, the key takeaway being: if you don't disrupt yourself, someone else will disrupt you. Go to our #Innovation Month special section to learn from people that are getting this right. Sarah Collins of Wonderbag launched the Coalition of Action, using the product as a catalyst to unite communities and leaders across the globe to address many of the world's 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, and collaborate to end poverty by bringing a total solution of a better life to women in the rural world, connecting brands with data, lifestyle and prosperity. Then for a more light-hearted take on how to find a 'right fit' between you and your business partner, Andrea Kleinloog, co-founder of Anatomy Design shares her and Megan Hesse' experience at the Johannesburg version of Business of Design. read more Insights to create more impact - 29 Aug 2016[Jessica Tennant, Retail Editor (@Biz_Retail)] Last week saw the Cape Town version of Business of Design 2016, one week on from the Johannesburg event. Leigh Andrews summarises Day 1 of #BODCT here, saying that a strong message for all attendees was to use these insights to create more impactful designs than ever before, in any industry. read more Recognising the women in business - 22 Aug 2016[Jessica Tennant, Retail Editor (@Biz_Retail)] #WomensMonth is well under way with the winners of the Fairlady Women of the Future Awards 2016 having been announced on Friday. Congratulations to Sarah Collins of Wonderbag and Moyin Oloruntoba of The A1, who is this year's Rising Star, and all the other extraordinary finalists for being an inspiration to the women of South Africa. Leigh Andrews covered #CEMAfrica, where she learnt more about the value of customer experience (CX) in emerging markets. read more Adapt or disrupt - 15 Aug 2016[Jessica Tennant, Retail Editor (@Biz_Retail)] Taste Holdings has announced the location of its third Starbucks store in South Africa, where coffee people in Menlyn Maine, Pretoria can look forward to 100% Arabica coffee and some of the rarest single-origin, small-lot coffees, prepared through a variety of brewing methods, such as siphon, pour over and the Clover brewing system. In response to the waste epidemic that sees 100bn single-use coffee cups thrown away each year, local brand Ecoffee Cup launched in SA today, offering a stylish range of reusable and recyclable takeaway cups. Nidal Kamouni of PCCI Group explains how self-service improves customer satisfaction. He believes that "the customer experience landscape is ripe for disruption, with companies slowly making progress toward more seamless and simpler customer experiences," as well as increasing their focus on making self-service easier. read more “Strong women – be them, hire them, mentor them.” – Kate Schrire - 8 Aug 2016[Jessica Tennant, Retail Editor (@Biz_Retail)] With one week to go until the Johannesburg leg of Business of Design, I interview the inspirational Kate Schrire of The Creamery Ice Cream Company. We talk about the importance of slow food and sustainability, why community is important for business owners, what it means to be a woman in business, and ice cream of course. Amazon launched its first Prime Air-branded cargo plane last week to speed up shipments between its distribution centres and ultimately delivery for its Prime subscribers. read more Skinny legs and all… - 1 Aug 2016[Jessica Tennant, Retail Editor (@Biz_Retail)] This weekend's Good Food & Wine Show brought together some of the country's most-loved chefs, as well as Australia's George Calombaris and Matt Moran, where I had the opportunity to speak Greek with Calombaris on his new cookbook. Following last week's Instagram post by The Kiffness addressed to Woolworths, suggesting that the retailer should be ashamed of itself for having skinny display mannequins, the retailer responded by saying that it's committed to take their concern into consideration when they next order mannequins, and claiming that the bodies are built to universal specifications. And with everyone talking about Pokémon Go, Leigh Andrews explains how the phenomenon could benefit your business from an O2O (online-to-offline) perspective. As #MandelaMonth drew to a close, I interviewed Sphiwe Reggie Skhosana on Africa's first Ronald McDonald House to open at the Nelson Mandela Children's Hospital in Parktown later this year. This month we're focusing on women in business, as featured in our #WomensMonth special section. read more So much more than a brand - 25 Jul 2016[Jessica Tennant, Retail Editor (@Biz_Retail)] Focusing on the customer, Nick Paul looks at customer engagement from a social media perspective, based on a recent report from Unmetric. One of the most notable trends is that supermarkets generate by far the most negative sentiment. read more 'Businesses are ready to pay for customers' - 18 Jul 2016[Jessica Tennant, Retail Editor (@Biz_Retail)] Pokemon GO has taken the world by storm, a week in and already looking to influence retail in a big way. With its 'lure module' feature, restaurants, coffee shops and small retailers are able to attract virtual Pokemon characters to the store and therefore new customers too. read more A new kind of Stickeez - 11 Jul 2016[Jessica Tennant, Retail Editor (@Biz_Retail)] The new 'Stickeez' craze is here with Checkers introducing its Little Shop Mini Collectables of 29 recognisable grocery brands, such as a miniature toy All Gold tomato sauce, for example, complete with a collectables case and other merchandise like mini trolleys, baskets and storefronts. When you spend R150, you get one to add to your collection, and the first 25 learners to complete their collections could win R10k for themselves and R10k for their schools. read more Doing good in so many ways - 4 Jul 2016[Jessica Tennant, Retail Editor (@Biz_Retail)] It's a promising start to the third quarter with innovative companies like wiGroup, SweepSouth and newly founded FlipSell offering seamless, safe, secure and convenient solutions to the way things were in the retail industry. WiGroup founder Bevan Ducasse recently won the FNB Business Innovation Awards, SweepSouth received a new R10m round of funding earlier this year, and FlipSell, the newest kid on the block, now offers a platform for buying and selling pre-owned goods, with secure payments, convenient pick-ups and direct deliveries. read more Winning at retail - 27 Jun 2016[Jessica Tennant, Retail Editor (@Biz_Retail)] A couple of big wins this week with Local Grill in Parktown North taking top honours in The Wolftrap Steakhouse Championships for the third time, and Woolworths' WRewards 'Are you with us' campaign having won the Best Loyalty Programme Marketing Campaign of the Year. The campaign, featuring Grammy award-winning musician, record producer and philanthropist, Pharrell Williams, enticed customers to join Woolworths' sustainability journey and make sustainability cool for the next generation of South Africans, and at the same time rewarding customers for their loyalty. read more In the face of disruption - 20 Jun 2016[Jessica Tennant, Retail Editor (@Biz_Retail)] In light of Youth Day, the 2016 Sunday Times Generation Next Youth Conference on 10 June saw marketing gurus gather to provide insight into how to understand young people. I covered the opening keynote by Justin Levin, MD of HDI Youth Marketeers, who provided an overview of the 12th Sunday Times Generation Next survey, the results of which were announced at the awards that evening. The Consumer Goods Forum 60th Global Summit 2016 brought together top-level industry executives from across the globe to share experiences around the theme of 'seizing opportunities in the face of disruption'. read more From purchase decisions to payment options - 13 Jun 2016[Jessica Tennant, Retail Editor (@Biz_Retail)] Last week saw the launch of the Effective Measure e-Commerce Industry Report 2016 that compares online and offline shoppers and explains what motivates their buying behaviour. 58% of the 12,000 respondents indicated that they prefer to pay with a card and bill payment merchants, while 23% would rather pay on delivery. read more Modern retailing - 6 Jun 2016[Jessica Tennant, Retail Editor (@Biz_Retail)] Last week saw a special focus feature on shopper marketing, edited and curated by Louise Marsland, on how technology is changing how people shop, as well as how digital signage will transform the retail environment. Today, based on this year's theme of the Consumer Goods Forum's Global Summit, 'Seizing opportunities in the face of disruption', Marsland shares some of the top shopper marketing and consumer trends that are leading disruption in the retail value chain. A new Nielsen Global Brand-Origin report comparing local and global brands suggests that homegrown brands maintain a powerful hold over local consumers. read more |
