The Cointreau Creative Crew (CCC) Grant Scheme, which sought to identify and empower female creativity across South Africa, has selected 15 finalists within the art, music, design, film, food and even cocktail industries. 2 Mar 2017
Mastercard at Mobile World Congress
At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Mastercard announced that South African MultiChoice customers can now pay their digital satellite television accounts using Masterpass on their smartphones. 2 Mar 2017
Image source: Atterbury
The R5.1bn Mall of Africa, Attacq's single largest asset, has exceeded trading expectations in its first eight months despite what seems to be a waning appetite for retail therapy among consumers in general. 2 Mar 2017
Africa's first indigenous cashmere, produced from the local iMbuzi goat, was displayed as part of the Ivili Loboya launch at the Impact Hub in Rosebank, Johannesburg, from 23-25 February 2017. This yarn is part of a variety of fabrics, including blends with silk and merino wool, as the brand's debut Dedani Collection. 2 Mar 2017
Dairy products group Clover complained that it was squeezed between the rising raw milk prices due to the drought and consumers unable to afford higher food prices during the first half of its financial year. 2 Mar 2017
BARCELONA: Consumers are snapping up fitness trackers, smartwatches and other connected wearable gadgets – but huge numbers wind up in drawers unused after just a few months once the novelty wears off. 1 Mar 2017
Nederburg is launching a creative, interactive promotional campaign in participating restaurants in South Africa in early March, devised to intrigue, engage, and reward consumers for their curiosity. 1 Mar 2017
Business, especially the retail sector, must look to omni-channel integration for a competitive advantage, as unified communications (UC) steadily gains in popularity worldwide. South African companies should look at ways to use the technology to strengthen business processes, cut down on shadow IT and improve interaction with their customers, rather than view it with apprehension. 1 Mar 2017
To be a top performing franchise takes a little more than following the beaten path and there are certain characteristics that separate the best franchisees from those who simply make a living or even fail. 1 Mar 2017
A draft replacement of the Financial Services Board (FSB) Policyholder Protection Rules (PPRs) will enable consumers to opt-out of unwanted SMS communication from insurance companies, without incurring SMS costs. 1 Mar 2017
South African mobile payments startup Peach Payments has partnered secure payments solution Callpay to provide automated electronic fund transfers (EFT) as well as secure telephonic payment acceptance solutions for e-commerce platforms. 1 Mar 2017
Image source: Financial Mail
Edcon CEO Bernie Brookes seems unfazed by the less-than-lukewarm response to the group's recently announced board. "It's fine; we'll prove ourselves over time," he says phlegmatically to reports that analysts have been unimpressed by the seven-person board. 1 Mar 2017
Pond's has launched Pimple Clear, a range with Lock + Clear technology, which locks pimple-fighting Active Thymo-T Essence deep inside pimple-causing germ cells to clear spots from the root. According to The Pond's Institute, clinical trials showed a significant reduction in pimples for both men and women in just three days. 28 Feb 2017
More and more businesses are either putting self-service options for customers in place or considering them in their service departments or contact centres. For simple transactions or enquiries, a self-service channel can be more efficient than other channels, providing speedy resolution of interactions, resulting in the added benefit of improving the customer experience (CX). 28 Feb 2017
DHL Express has released a report, ‘The 21st Century Spice Trade: A Guide to the Cross-Border E-Commerce Opportunity', which indicates that cross-border online retail volumes are predicted to increase at an annual average rate of 25% between 2015 and 2020 (from $300 billion to $900 billion), twice the pace of domestic e-commerce growth. 28 Feb 2017
South African entrepreneur Bushera Bashir exhibited her luxury cashmere scarf range at London Fashion Week, which took place 18-19 February 2017. She will also be displaying her brand at the Boutiques Fair, Singapore and the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, Cape Town next month. 28 Feb 2017
Stacy Beukes is the curly-haired designer, manufacturer and owner of local jewellery brand ‘A Ring To It'. Raised in the Cape Flats suburb of Grassy Park, Beukes weaves cherished childhood memories and cultural traditions into charming handmade pieces that are packed with personality and evoke nostalgia within the wearer. 28 Feb 2017
The food and drug retailers index rallied just under 9% last week following the release of better-than-expected results from grocery giant Shoprite. 28 Feb 2017
A special report, released by StatisticsBrain last year, indicated South Africans were third in the world for sex toy searches online. Following this, upmarket sex toy brand Désir commissioned a survey to find out more about the complex relationship South Africans seem to have with their sex toys. 27 Feb 2017
Acquisitions are key to fortifying growth prospects and duty-free access to China could be a game changer for the local wine market, liquor conglomerate Distell has indicated. 27 Feb 2017
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