With sustainability and recycling on the legislative agenda globally, it's only a matter of time before non-sustainable practices are met with penalties and brands are taking preventative measures. 29 Nov 2018
South African company Afro Girl has just released the multilingual Hunadi doll, which speaks speaks in 4 of South Africa's 11 official languages. Hunadi comes dressed in traditional pink shweshwe clothing and wears locally handmade leather shoes and accessories, while her packaging unfolds into a dollhouse. 29 Nov 2018
Cyber Monday is online retailers' response to the bricks-and-mortar marketing push of Black Friday. Online shopping is only set to increase, as smartphones and apps continue to capture more of the market. 29 Nov 2018
Africa Trade Week, to be held from 23 to 25 June 2019 at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Johannesburg, will see the co-location of three exhibitions, resulting in one huge trade fair to highlight pan-African business opportunities, products, services, equipment, supplies, innovations, technology and solutions. 28 Nov 2018
Rowan Leibbrandt, founder of premium drinks company Truman & Orange, travels the world in search of high quality, interesting boutique liquor brands to introduce to the local market. 28 Nov 2018
DigiSwipe is a digital wallet that replaces all your traditional barcoded cards using a single app. Users enjoy the app free of charge and simultaneously contribute to the environment by no longer requiring plastic cards. 28 Nov 2018
Fashion retail giant H&M is closing its struggling independent brand Cheap Monday, which is known for its low-priced skinny jeans. 28 Nov 2018
In-store retail spending over the Black Friday shopping period this year dropped by 10% compared to 2017, while sales volumes decreased by 2%. This is according to data from retail management platform Vend, which powers hundreds of small-to-medium and independent retail stores across Africa. 28 Nov 2018
Humans consume approximately 80-billion pieces of clothing annually, according to the documentary The True Cost. With a quick-throwaway culture defining the fast fashion era, investing in quality, handcrafted goods that are designed to last is one way consumers can shop more sustainably. 27 Nov 2018
Woolworths ready-made, frozen and hot counter pies are the first South African-made food products to be certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). As part of its Good Business Journey, Woolworths has made a commitment to only source certified sustainable palm oil for their branded products by 2020. 27 Nov 2018
While it's tempting to relegate Black Friday as just another marketing gimmick, the reality, according to SME funder Retail Capital, is that it signifies the start of a month-long consumer spending frenzy that significantly boosts retail revenues. 27 Nov 2018
African e-commerce player Jumia has signed a partnership agreement with global retailer Carrefour to introduce Carrefour products to millions on the continent via Jumia.com. This collaboration will initially focus on Kenya, Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Senegal, where both groups are present. 27 Nov 2018
The conscious consumer is fast reshaping the retail fashion and textile landscape. At the recent ATF Trade Expo at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, Herman Pillay, CEO and chairman of TCI Apparel and Wear South African, recently explained how this group of consumers - who are demanding transparency and traceability - are changing the ways retailers operate. 26 Nov 2018
Beyond its reputation as a quality cosmetics brand in the professional makeup industry, what gives Make-Up Designory (Mud) Cosmetics the edge is that its roots lie in education. Described as the 'Harvard of makeup schools', Mud's educational programme was developed by Hollywood makeup artists in the late 1990s, with Mud products and tools introduced later to better equip the company's students during their courses. 26 Nov 2018
Takealot.com's annual, five-day Blue Dot Sale went live at 12:01am on Friday, 23 November and generated record sales for the e-tailer on Black Friday. 26 Nov 2018
Experts are divided about both the state and the future of e-commerce in South Africa. Some big brands, like Massmart, have elected not to establish an online store here because they believe the market is simply too small. Others, like Takealot and Pick n Pay, are investing heavily and believe that online trading in SA is on the cusp of a boom and will take off the minute we fix issues around data access. 26 Nov 2018
Black Friday and Cyber Monday induce a fever-pitched spending frenzy across shopping centres and online platforms countrywide. On these two days, the average spend per South African taking part is R1,600, with clothing, electronics and entertainment making up a bulk of the purchases each year. 23 Nov 2018
As the founder of Green Home, South Africa's first completely compostable food packaging company, Catherine Morris wants to make plant-based packaging the norm. 23 Nov 2018
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