[Shan Radcliffe] Last week, Statistics SA reported a rise year-on-year in wholesale and retail trade sales for March. While wholesale trade lost some ground on February's stats, retail trade had a bump up from the previous month. read more
[Shan Radcliffe] The forecasts are in and economists are expecting a rise in the March retail trade results, which are due out Wednesday. The Spark Cash Index last week revealed the effect the holidays had on ATM withdrawals. read more
[Shan Radcliffe] What is it that will have customers drop your company faster than you can say "Sorry, we can't help"? Bad customer service. Last year's Accenture Global Consumer Survey showed that service, rather than price, is key to retaining or losing customers. read more
[Shan Radcliffe] The best butchers in the country were honoured last week in the 2011 Cleaver Awards; the national and provincial winners having been selected from a record of over 21000 nominations.
Just before the long weekend, the new Nicolway Bryanston shopping mecca opened its doors to a flood of shoppers. With all 90 stores let, shoppers are spoilt for choice. read more
[Shan Radcliffe] We're over halfway through the public holiday period - you know, those couple of months in SA when it seems you can't go a week without stepping on a public holiday - and things are looking positive. Manufacturing showed an increase in February and is set to boost our first quarter GDP. read more
[Shan Radcliffe] Pranksters were out in fool force yesterday, but if you missed Google Maps in 8-bit, couldn't get your hands on the YouTube collection on DVD, or didn't get to see the Blue Bulls play in pink (oh wait, that was real), here's a few that came through Bizcommunity's inbox.
Last week the MPC decided to keep the repo rate unchanged, and news of the latest petrol bomb - er, sorry - petrol price hike was announced... read more
[Shan Radcliffe] After months of deliberation, Judge Dave Dennis of the Competition Appeals Court finally announced the verdict on the merger between Wal-Mart and Massmart on Friday.
The week had started well for the US retail giant when, over the border, authorities gave the nod for the merger to go ahead in Nambia.
On Thursday, it was announced that the group had signed a three-year supplier development programme to the tune of R15 million to support and develop small farmers in South Africa.
And in a final coup, Judge Dennis gave the seal of approval to the merger - but not without a few more conditions.
Not surprisingly, the Saccawu isn't happy, but so far resistance has proven futile. read more
[Shan Radcliffe] We're hurtling at a pace into March, with only two days left till financial year-end for many companies. And, according to Andrew Hannington, that also only leaves two days for companies with a public interest score of less than 350 to amend their MOIs and opt out of the annual audit.
Last week saw the CPI rise and, who could forget, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan's Budget speech. read more
[Shan Radcliffe] Ah, so Valentine's Day has finally come and gone and whether you're still basking in the glow of your Valentine's affections or binning your wilting flowers, here's hoping you all got a little love last week. Retailers certainly did, if the figures are anything to go by, with the online market winning over more hearts this year. read more
[Shan Radcliffe] It's the end of an era for Nick Badminton as he announced his resignation as CEO of Pick n Pay last week, marking the final days of his 32-year career with the company. The retail giant is now on the hunt for a "hard-as-nails" CEO. read more
[Shan Radcliffe] February started off with a bang on Wednesday as the price of petrol climbed another 34c per litre. The ASA finally announced its ruling in favour of the little guy who was having a "good old fashioned" spat with Woolies. read more
[Shan Radcliffe] We're about to enter the "month of love", yet with Valentine's Day a mere two weeks away, I have yet to see a single TV ad spouting on about chocolate hearts, discount kisses and diamond sales. I was, however, appalled to see the Easter Bunny hopping all over my screen this weekend and had to double-check that I hadn't pulled a Rip van Winkle into March. read more
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