Black Friday 2018 looms | Franchise Leadership Summit - 19 Nov 2018[Lauren Hartzenberg, Retail Editor (@Biz_Retail)] With Black Friday looming, we've got a list of SA retailers that are participating in Friday's mega shopping event. And with crashed websites and stock shortfalls, Wynand Smit explains how to protect your relationship with your customers during the shopping frenzy. In other top news, Mills Soko unpacks how a new book on Steinhoff's demise shows the danger of 'big men' business leaders. read more Shopper Insights | SA's new marketplace - 12 Nov 2018[Lauren Hartzenberg, Retail Editor (@Biz_Retail)] In top news, Danette Breitenbach shares top takeaways from the Shopper Insights SA 2019 conference which kicked off in Joburg last week. Nielsen SA's Esti Prinsloo discusses how innovation drives brand success at shelf, while Inperspective's Jacqui Le Sar Fourie explains that despite retailers widening their repertoire, baskets are shrinking as tough times for shoppers dictate more planning and less impulse shopping. read more Best in loyalty and online retail - 5 Nov 2018[Lauren Hartzenberg, Retail Editor (@Biz_Retail)] Truth and BrandMapp have revealed SA's favourite loyalty programmes, with Clicks Clubcard once again in the lead as the most used loyalty programme. Click through for all the winners. Then, the winners of the inaugural Online Retailer of the Year awards were also announced. read more Integrating retail and etail - 29 Oct 2018[Lauren Hartzenberg, Retail Editor (@Biz_Retail)] Google held the continent's first Think With Google Retail Summit in Cape Town last week. The key takeaways focused on SA retailers needing to learn from past, move quickly, take inspiration from global leaders and move forward with an omnichannel mindset. Similarly, contributor Julia Ahlfeldt explains why physical and online retail should not work as opposing forces, instead, they're best operating in tandem. read more #SACSCCongress2018 | Executive changes - 22 Oct 2018[Lauren Hartzenberg, Retail Editor (@Biz_Retail)] With the SACSC Annual Congress held in Durban last week, we've got this year's winners of the Footprint Marketing Awards and Retail, Design and Development Awards, which both recognise innovation in the shopping centre and retail industry. In other top news, former Famous Brands CEO Kevin Hedderwick and pioneering private equity practitioner Antony Ball have both joined the Real Foods board. Real Foods owns Kauai, Nü Health Food Café and Kohu as well as Highveld Honey. Another big management change is that Stuart Bird, CEO of Mr Price Group, will be retiring at the end of the year. read more Refreshed homeware offerings - 15 Oct 2018[Lauren Hartzenberg, Retail Editor (@Biz_Retail)] In top news this week, homeware and kitchenware retailer Yuppiechef continues its expansion into physical retail with the opening of a shiny new store in the V&A Waterfront - and it was designed using VR technology. And Edcon has officially announced the launch of Edgars Home, a new store concept that replaces the Boardmans brand. In other top stories, the 2018 Sunday Times/Sowetan Shopper Survey has announced South Africa's favourite retailers, with the Grand Prix for the overall best retailer awarded to Shoprite, with Pick n Pay and Clicks in 2nd and 3rd place respectively. read more Approaching food production sustainably - 8 Oct 2018[Lauren Hartzenberg, Retail Editor (@Biz_Retail)] In continuation of our FoodNext.Africa coverage, I introduce you to Gourmet Grubb, a forward-thinking Cape Town startup making ice-cream from insect milk, while educating consumers about insects as an eco-friendly, sustainable food source. Also in food, Megan Blake explains how large amounts of food gets wasted during the manufacturing process, while Eugene Yiga chats to Vanessa Jacobs about her business Sow Delicious, which makes it easy for people to grow healthy, organic produce at home. In the fashion world, Chanel has acquired Orlebar Brown, a British men's swimwear brand, for an undisclosed sum. And divisive footwear brand Crocs is experiencing a comeback, on high fashion's international catwalks no less. In other top news, Clicks CEO David Kneale has stepped down, and will be succeeded by Vikesh Ramsunder with effect from 1 January 2019. read more Innovation on a plate - 1 Oct 2018[Lauren Hartzenberg, Retail Editor (@Biz_Retail)] The inaugural FoodNext.Africa conference kicked off last week, a B2B food event where startups, food innovators, foodtech businesses and investors who are redefining the food industry from farm-to-fork are able to connect and share ideas. In the first of a number of articles from the conference, we report on Gauteng startup MyBraai, which has taken a popular South African past-time and turned it into a thriving online business. In the same vein, Ruth Cooper chats to Hannerie Visser about Food XX, a new food conference set for 2019 that aims to support womxn in the food, drinks and hospitality industries. In other top news, French hardware retailer Leroy Merlin opened the doors to its first store on the African continent in Edenvale, Gauteng on Friday. read more Is franchising future-proof? - 25 Sep 2018[Lauren Hartzenberg, Retail Editor (@Biz_Retail)] Franchising remains one of SA's most resilient sectors, despite being faced with challenging economic conditions. According to Fasa's latest survey, franchising boasts an estimated turnover of R721 billion, equivalent to 15,7% of the total South African GDP. In other top news, we interviewed Asher Stern, co-founder of Cape Town e-commerce startup Buyfresh, which delivers ethically-sourced, top-quality meat to discerning Cape Town omnivores as well as the city's restaurant trade. read more The growth of online in SA - 17 Sep 2018[Lauren Hartzenberg, Retail Editor (@Biz_Retail)] With the release of the annual cross-border e-commerce report by PayPal and Ipsos comes the news that South Africans are forecasted to spend over R45 billion online this year - a 19% increase from 2017 - with over 60% making a purchase from an overseas retailer. Encouraging news for some, but an important consideration for those involved in physical retail. Meanwhile, in Nielsen research, South African consumers' stressful, time-starved lifestyles has created a burgeoning demand for convenient solutions that can help simplify their lives - from food delivery to meal kits and grab-and-go foods. In other top headlines, the Spree-Superbalist merger will result in the Spree brand folding into Superbalist from October, with the combined business positioned as the largest player in South African online fashion. We have the innovative, standout designs from this year's Pentawards, a prestigious worldwide competition devoted exclusively to packaging design. read more Future-focused brands - 10 Sep 2018[Lauren Hartzenberg, Retail Editor (@Biz_Retail)] A hot topic of conversation last week was Nike revealing American athlete Colin Kaepernick as one of the faces of its new 'Just Do It: 30th anniversary' campaign. Keith Rathbone explains why Nike's move to mix racial politics with sport will be vindicated. Sticking with fashion, Zara owner Inditex has announced plans to have all its brands available to purchase online anywhere in the world by 2020. read more Celebrating SA's best... - 3 Sep 2018[Lauren Hartzenberg, Retail Editor (@Biz_Retail)] This was a bumper week for awards celebrating South Africa's most innovative and trailblazing consumer-facing brands. First up, we have all the winners from this year's Pricecheck Tech and E-commerce Awards, where Takealot scooped 4 of the 14 awards, including the coveted E-commerce Service of the Year title. Then, the country's standout extra virgin olive oils were recognised at the 2018 SA Olive Awards, while the best beers were revealed at this year's South African National Beer Trophy competition, which is the largest beer tasting competition in Africa with 212 entries and more than 20 judges. read more Buy local online - 27 Aug 2018[Lauren Hartzenberg, Retail Editor (@Biz_Retail)] In top headlines this week, Proudly South African has created an e-shopping site to assist small, medium and even large local businesses to sell more using only South African suppliers and service providers, and Checkers has introduced a range of meal kits called Ready to Chef, with four different recipes available in stores each week. In other top news, contactless payment service Samsung Pay is finally available in South Africa, and PepsiCo has agreed to acquire SodaStream International Ltd, a countertop carbonated water machine maker, for $3.2 billion. Elsewehere,OneCart, an on-demand grocery concierge startup described as an 'Uber for groceries' recently expanded its service from Gauteng to Cape Town, and has expressed plans to conquer Durban next, and Deloitte has established an interactive Connected Retail experience at its Greenhouse innovation space in Cape Town. In continuation of our #WomensMonth focus, I chat to Pernod Ricard SA's Elizabeth Lee Ming about marketing to the modern consumer, advice for women climbing the corporate ladder and the importance of women supporting each other in the workplace. read more Celebrating women in business - 20 Aug 2018[Lauren Hartzenberg, Retail Editor (@Biz_Retail)] In this week's top stories, South African retail sales for June 2018 grew by 2.9% year-on-year excluding the effects of inflation, marking the weakest pace of growth since October 2017. read more Designing for digital nomads - 13 Aug 2018[Lauren Hartzenberg, Retail Editor (@Biz_Retail)] In our top stories this week, Stratcom Branding's Gail Macleod lists the golden rules to consider when designing packaging for digital nomads, and Lemok Group's Lebogang Mokubela weighs in on the Black Friday opportunity for SA retailers. In other news, Woolworths is trialling a recycling vending machine in its Palmyra store in Cape Town, and 'Scotch whisky' is now registered as a certification trademark in South Africa. Elsewhere, PepsiCo's first female CEO Indra Nooyi has stepped down after 12 years at the helm, and Baselworld's CEO René Kamm resigned days after The Swatch Group announced it was pulling out of the annual watch and jewellery trade fair. Last but not least, Clicks celebrates its 50th birthday since launching in Cape Town in 1968, and Fitbit Pay is now available in South Africa. Until next week, enjoy! Lauren Hartzenberg Retail Editor: Bizcommunity.com read more |
