With the current economic slowdown, could the R32 billion informal market offer brands opportunities for growth?

In the second quarter of 2015, 2.6 million South Africans were employed in the informal sector, excluding agriculture accounting for 17 percent of total employment and 12.7 percent of the total labour force.

Informal retail, referred to as "the second economy" within the South African retail sector, is a crucial supply channel of goods predominantly in densely populated areas. Informal retail concepts vary from taverns to tuck shops (small food-selling retailers). Spazas, or small retail stores, are making huge inroads in the local retail arena, offering both food and non-food products.

With economic growth stagnating, does the informal sector offer brands some runway?

Initial insights from the Zanusi Spaza in Tembisa offers some interesting trends. The Spaza, which is run as a business and located in Klipfontein, acts as an immersion lab through which insights about the market can be gained in real time.

Zanusi Brand Solutions has extensive experience in the informal market sector and develops brand segmentation and activation strategies for companies in various sectors including FMCG, financial, telecommunication, etc.

The Digital Innovation Unit within Zanusi is using the Zanusi Spaza to pilot some groundbreaking technologies in the informal market which include OpenPos, an Android-based consumer and retailer engagement platform.

"Only a small number of companies have recognised the benefits of working with the informal sector or including the informal sector in their organisation's trade marketing and distribution strategies. For many of these large organisations the spaza is an unknown entity and therefore they do not know the potential growth and value which can be derived from this sector of the market," says Nomahlubi Simamane, CEO & Founder of Zanusi Brand Solutions.

A must-attend event for CEOs, Chief Marketing Officers, Trade Marketing Directors and Communication Directors to gain valuable insights into the informal sector which is fast becoming the main sector in South Africa. The seminar will feature an overview on Emerging Market Retail; insights into the requirements of a spaza owner; how to map township retail; and trade marketing and distribution in the informal sector.

Speakers include:

	Nomahlubi Simamane - founded Zanusi Brand Solutions, a 100% black female-owned Integrated Branding, Marketing and Communications Services Firm in 2001 after 20 years' corporate experience in multinational FMCG companies in South Africa, Kenya and the USA. Zanusi has clientele in Africa, the UK and USA where it has delivered brand-building strategies and activated plans for blue-chip companies and state-owned entities.
	Vusi Vuma - Vusi heads up Digital Innovation@Zanusi. He has over 15 years market research experience and strategy experience in sectors that cover healthcare, FMCG, Public Service, Financial Services, ICT in South Africa and internationally (Asia, Scandanavia and the rest of the continent). Vusi's passion is the use of technology in enabling informal businesses and has developed OpenPos, an Android-based Mobile Point-of-Sale that enables the collection of real-time purchase data and provides a platform for virtual buying groups allowing lower cost to Spaza owners.
	Piet Botha is a Trade Marketing and Distribution specialist with decades of multi-national experience in developing and implementing world best practice solutions across Africa and internationally. His field of expertise is in the FMCG environment with demonstrated successes in Trade Channel Optimisation with particular emphasis on Informal Market penetration and customised Supply Chain re-engineering. Notably he developed, and successfully launched, Trade Marketing and Distribution Best Practice Worldwide for a global blue-chip company.
	Sbusiso Khoza is the Lead Software Engineer at Noborox OpenGis, a JV that is developing the OpenGIS platform for digitally mapping township businesses. Sibusiso is a graduate of Tshwane University of Technology in Computer Systems Engineering and has developed USSD and GIS based platforms for FMCG, Retail, Municipalities as well as Financial Services companies.
	Victor Kgomoeswana - Victor is an Author, Conference Facilitator & Speaker, African Business Specialist, BBBEE Consultant at Freelance. He has facilitated conferences in 2013 such as the annual conference of the Black Management Forum, the Annual Audit Committee Conference by Nkonki Inc., the National Treasury's Financial Management Improvement III workshop for municipalities in the North West, as well as the congratulatory dinners held by the Association of Black Investment & Securities Professionals for Jacko Maree and one by the African Women Chartered Accountants for the CEO of the National Empowerment Fund.

Visit www.zanusi.co.za or contact Musa Chako on Tel 011-2447700/02 for more information on this free groundbreaking seminar. The first 30 people to register and attend the seminar will receive a free copy of the book, "Africa is open for business".