Fast food and quick service restaurant (QSRs) sector largest in franchise industry

Margaret Constantaras is an independent consultant within the marketing research industry.

In 2017, there was a nett gain of 2,184 stores in South Africa-26% of which were each in fast foods, QSR’s and retail and 19% in the health, body and beauty culture sector.

Margaret Constantaras, an independent consultant within the marketing research industry will share her findings on the franchise industry in SA at the eighth Annual South African Council of Shopping Centres’ (SACSC) Research Conference which will take place at the Maslow Hotel in Sandton on 9 May 2018. Constantaras will dissect and explore aspects that affect and have effects on the franchise industry in SA.

Key challenges

According to Constantaras, the key challenges facing franchisees in SA revolve around people and money. “On the people side, difficulties are experienced finding the right staff, being able to offer consistently good service, forming relationships with their customers, and growing the business with new customers and marketing the business. On the money side, there is the poor economy resulting in customers having less discretionary income as well as high running costs, including high rentals,” she said. Constantaras has a broad and an in-depth understanding of many industries, and extensive knowledge in the franchising and telecommunications sectors. She has carried out various research studies in Africa, including Namibia, Botswana, Swaziland, Lesotho, Zambia, Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria and Burkina Faso.

Established in 2011, the main objective of the SACSC Research Conference was to enhance and satisfy the need for more information on trends, technology and customer information with regards to retail and shopping centres. Now, eight years on, the conference has grown in leaps and bounds.

Speakers

This year, attendees can look forward to presentations by:

• Kundayi Manzara, director of Sesfikile Capital
• Justice Malala, political commentator
• Lebo Motshegoa, managing director of Foshizi
• Dr. Martyn Davies, managing director, emerging markets and Africa for Deloitte
• Moses Mushirivindi
• John Ryan, retail analyst and journalist for Retail Week
• Margaret Constantaras, independent consultant for Research IQ
• Nikolay Dolgov, general mananger, point of sales tracking for GFK SA
• Nicolet Pienaar, business group manager for GFK SA
• Steven Burnstone, CEO Eighty20 Consulting
• Ray de Villiers, futurist for TodayTomorrow Global
• Lebogang Mokubela, CEO of the Lemok Group
• Catherin Stevenson, senior consultant of Cross Border Retail for Cushman & Wakefield Excellerate

Chief executive officer for the SACSC, Amanda Stops, said that the 2018 SACSC Research Conference will bring many important retail and shopping centre insights to light. “Margaret will share her invaluable insights into the franchise industry in South Africa – a topic I am sure many want to unpack further,” she said.

Those interested in the 2018 SACSC Research Conference can register here, click here or call +27 (0) 10 003 0228 for more information.