| 20 Jun 2011 |
| Retail | South Africa |
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Retail, Associations, Banking & Finance, Brand news, Clothing & Textiles, Cold chain, Commercial property, CRM, CSI, Distribution, e-Commerce, Exhibitions & Events, FMCG, Franchising, Green sustainability, Health & Safety, Hospitality, Import/Export, Informal retailing, Instore, Logistics, Manufacturing, Merchandising, Packaging, Refrigeration, Regulatory, Research, Retail marketing, Retail services, Retail trends, Retailers, Security, Shipping & Transport, Shopfitting, Supply chain, Technology, Training
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Looking at control in the call centreAccording to MTN Business, the way South African companies view 'control' in the call centre needs to change and that if local businesses take heed of research released overseas, they will understand the real business opportunity facing the call centre sector in the next 12 months. On the environment front, authorities in Australia have just launched a new site to monitor greenhouse gases in the Southern Hemisphere, and on the property front, property loan stocks are continuing to pique the interest of both small and large investors, thanks to strong returns tracked in the short-term and exceptional results posted over the long-term. Shan Radcliffe, Retail editor
Please send retail news to: retailnews@bizcommunity.com
Responses to this column welcomed in our new online editor's column archive.
Image: renjith krishnan / FreeDigitalPhotos.netTop stories
Retail
 [Gregory Gondwe] British Petroleum (BP) Malawi has become part of a US$296 million acquisition of Trafigula Group's PUMA Energy that bought BP assets in five Southern African countries of Malawi, Zambia, Botswana, Namibia, and Tanzania. BP Malawi was co-owned by BP Africa and Malawi's conglomerate Press Corporation Limited (PCL). Read more >>
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BRUSSELS, BELGIUM: The European Commission on Tuesday, 14 June 2011, gave an unconditional green light to a takeover by French dairy giant Lactalis of Italy's Parmalat, a commission source who asked to remain anonymous said. Read more >>
 Lonrho plc, the industrial group with extensive interests in Africa, has completed a share purchase agreement to acquire a 51% equity interest in Cape Town based seafood wholesaler Fish On Line for R3.5 million. Read more >>
Friday 17 June 2011 is the closing date for entries to the annual Retail Design and Development Awards (RDDA) 2011, sponsored by Nedbank Corporate Property Finance. This South African Council of Shopping Centres (SACSC) initiative looks for shopping centre and retail design excellence. Read more >>
Banking & Finance
"When it comes to finances, young people are faced with a number of challenges," says Obed Tongoane, manager at the National Credit Regulator (NCR). "Many have a student loan to pay off, but are lured early on by credit deals which keep them permanently in debt." Read more >>
Brand news
 The annual South African Graduate Recruiters Association (SAGRA) survey has seen Unilever voted as the Number 1 graduate employer in the FMCG sector and 4th overall Aspirational Employer. Read more >>
 At the 2011 Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, held in Luxembourg, South African brandies and spirits excelled, winning eight gold medals and two silver. Read more >>
 Consumer brands group, Incolabs has set its sights on the food sector with the acquisition of Sara Lee Coffee and Tea, marking its planned expansion into the food sector with the addition of the Douwe Egberts, with retail sales of R50 million annually, and Natreen Sweetener retail brands to an existing portfolio of health, home and beauty brands. Read more >>
Clothing & Textiles
 The second L'Italia in Piazza, a showcase of Italian tradition, style and innovation takes place at the Montecasino Outdoor Piazza from 16-19 June 2011 to celebrate the opportunities arising from Italian South African cultural exchange. Read more >>
Commercial property
[Shanaaz Prince] What was regarded as a booming industrial area in 2008 now faces an uncertain future as "To Let" and "For Sale" signs spring up around Fort Jackson. Read more >>
 Property loan stocks continue to pique the interest of both small and large investors, thanks to strong returns tracked in the short-term and exceptional results posted over the long-term. Read more >>
The small town of Harding near Port Shepstone in KwaZulu-Natal will have a modern shopping centre, Harding Corner by July 2012. The centre's developers, Amber Dawn Developments, have already acquired prime land in Hawkins Street, the main access route into Harding. Read more >>
 On the site of the current cooling towers, Soweto City is scheduled to arise, beginning with the City Centre set to start in September 2011. Described as a convenience offering, this is already 70% let. Approaching 65,000sqm, the planned development is set to transform the historical area into a retail and entertainment hub. Read more >>
Corporate Social Investment
 This year, in addition to existing Nampak CSI beneficiaries, Nampak Bevcan will be adding an extra R5 million or more (making a combined total of R10 million), specifically towards education initiatives. The group allocates 1% of profit after tax to CSI projects each year, which include education, health and welfare as well as environmental initiatives. Read more >>
CRM
 So says MTN Business. Generally hosted (or outsourced) solutions have made major inroads into a number of business operational areas in recent years, backed by proof points in rapid cost efficiency and process improvements. However, MTN Business believes it's time that the contact centre industry embraced this technology to reap similar benefits. Read more >>
Distribution
Tudortech, which already holds South African representation for established brands such as SanDisk, Olympus, Sigma and Leica, has added Belkin, a global leader in connectivity solutions. The partnership is aimed to further strengthen the product's footprint within the South African market. Read more >>
FMCG
Petite Pongrácz available Pongrácz and Pongrácz Rosé is now available in new 375ml bottles as a pre-dinner bubbly, the Pongrácz is available at approximately R58 and the Rosé at around R68 per bottle at selected wine shops, bars and restaurants. For more information, go to www.pongracz.co.za.
Franchising
 With the need for resources from developing countries such as China and India, coupled with the discovery of oil within more and more African countries, the economies of African countries are set for major short and medium-term growth. Based on this growth, Dulcé Café is currently launching an expansion of the franchise chain into Saudi Arabia, Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, Botswana and Angola. Read more >>
Green sustainability
An Australian research institute to, Monday 20 June, launched a website that allows the public to monitor greenhouse gas emissions in the southern hemisphere. Read more >>
Health & Safety
 NEW YORK, US: The Global Awards, now in its 17th year of honouring creative and marketing excellence in healthcare communications worldwide, announced the Call For Entries for the 2011 competition. Read more >>
Hospitality
 Luvo Ntezo has moved to One&Only Cape Town as the head sommelier to build on his award winning work on wine lists derived from six years at the Twelve Apostles Hotel & Spa. Read more >>
Import/Export
A reminder that the tenth Thailand Trade Show 2011 at the Sandton Convention Centre will open on Thursday 30 June from 9.30am to 6pm for trade companies only and for trade and public on Friday 1 July and Saturday 2 July from 9.30am to 6pm and 9.30am to 4pm respectively. Entrance is free. Read more >>
Manufacturing
Clover Industries' board has approved R277 million worth of capital expenditure in addition to Project Cielo Blu. This brings the total amount of capital expenditure programmes to R627 million, the company said on Tuesday, 14 June 2011. Read more >>
Merchandising
[Srini Rangaswamy] B2B companies want to turn their online interactions with buyers into ongoing sales relationships. To do so, companies are making the most of proven B2C-like merchandising techniques such as cross-sells, up-sells, targeted offers based on role, order history, promotional pricing, and search-driven merchandising to influence order size and drive additional sales. Read more >>
Regulatory
South Africans are being called on to register their SIM cards ahead of the 30 June 2011 deadline. Read more >>
[Linda Ensor, Annaleigh Vallie and Mariam Isa] The government is keeping up the pressure on the Wal-Mart/Massmart deal, with Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel warning yesterday it "would keep its legal options open" and closely scrutinise how the groups implement conditions imposed by the Competition Tribunal. Read more >>
Research
[Zeenat Moorad] After an unexpected slump during the first three months of the year, clothing and footwear retailers have come out trumps in a survey by Ernst & Young and the Bureau of Economic Research (BER), which revealed they were able to contain increases in their selling prices and boost volume growth during the second quarter. Read more >>
More home owners are selling their properties to downscale due to financial pressure, according to the latest FNB Estate Agent Home Buying Survey released on Tuesday, 14 June 2011. Read more >>
Retail marketing
[Cordell Brewer] Marketers should embrace new laws such as the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) and Protection of Personal Information Bill, as an opportunity to bring best practices to their email marketing campaigns, rather than fighting or resenting them. Read more >>
Retail services
 Lifestyle will launch its singular packaged sanitary towels in vending machines nationwide in women's washrooms in Tygervalley, Atterbury, Clearwater, Fourways crossing, Kolonnade, Cape Gate, N1. Read more >>
Retailers
[Zeenat Moorad] Pick n Pay's mistake regarding its disposal of Franklins was to make everyone aware of it, according to an analyst. Read more >>
 [Zeenat Moorad] Freshstop, a member of the Fruit & Veg City group, aims to open up to 50 stores by the end of the year and 50 more stores in 2012, solidifying is position as SA's fastest growing "c-store", or convenience store, brand. Read more >>
Shipping & Transport
[Paul Vecchiatto] Transnet chairman Mafika Mkhwanazi and other board members of the state-owned enterprise would remain in their current positions unless Cabinet decides otherwise, according to a joint statement released by Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba and Mkwanazi. Read more >>
[Paul Vecchiatto] Transnet plans to forge ahead with plans to develop the site of the old Durban airport into a maritime container port at an initial cost of R50 billion, according to a presentation made to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises by Transnet CEO Brian Molefe on Tuesday, 14 June 2011. Read more >>
Supply chain
[Siphiwe Nyathi] An amount of R25 million will be used to revitalise three irrigation schemes in Mpumalanga's Bushbuckridge area. Read more >>
Technology
 The new Logitech HD Webcam C615 allows video calls in HD 720p on Skype, FaceTime for Mac, Logitech Vid HD and Windows Live Messenger, and video calls on Yahoo! Messenger, iChat, AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) and other instant messaging applications. Read more >>
Training
 This year's recipients of the Cape Winemakers Guild Protégé Bursaries are Heinrich Kulsen of Paarl who is currently at Elsenburg studying for his BAgric degree in Cellar Technology, Arlene Mains from Blackheath and Brenton Maarman from Oudtshoorn who are both at Stellenbosch University completing a BSc degree in Viticulture and Oenology. Read more >>
 The International Hotel School (IHS) runs a national Bootcamp Bursary competition at its three campuses in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town, where Grade 12 students enter to win one of three bursaries for its full time Diploma in Hospitality Management or Professional Cookery, valued at over R160 000. The five KwaZulu-Natal finalists were selected last week from the 30 semi-finalists. They are Cailin Williams, Dedre du Plessis, Logan Bernsmann, Nhlanhla Msweli and Urasha Rajah. Read more >>
 LONDON, UK / MUNICH, GERMANY / PARIS, FRANCE / NEW YORK, US: The shortlist of the 2011 Framepool/ LBB/ FireFlies Challenge is out! The jury - including representatives from RSA, BBDO, 180 Amsterdam and Publicis - evaluated more than 40 short movies on the topic 'compassion'. Read more >>
 RESTON, US: comScore, Inc has released data from the comScore Video Metrix service showing that 176 million US Internet users watched online video content in May for an average of 15.9 hours per viewer. The total US Internet audience engaged in more than 5.6 billion viewing sessions during the course of the month. Read more >>
 MOSCOW, RUSSIA: The experts at Kaspersky Lab present their monthly report about malicious activity on users' computers and on the Internet. Read more >>
More International news...
Franchising
 In their continuous drive to promote safety on the roads, Tiger Wheel & Tyre has teamed up with Discovery VitalityDrive to reward participating customers for having an annual Multipoint vehicle safety check. Read more >>
 [Henrie Geyser: motoring editor] For seriously tough off-road jaunts experienced bushwhackers would probably opt for a Toyota Land Cruiser 79 or 78, or a Land Rover Defender - and with good reason; they are as solid as army tanks and will cope with most challenges Mother Africa can throw at them. Read more >>
 [Henrie Geyser: motoring editor] Because it is a large, comfortable and seriously elegant four-seater passenger car that wears a discreet badge proclaiming its environmental friendliness, the last thing you would expect is for it to blast off like the Endeavour thundering skywards from the Kennedy Space Centre. Read more >>
More Motoring news...
 Comair, operator of British Airways in SA, has reduced the number flights between OR Tambo International and Dar es Salaam airport in Tanzania, effective 20 June 2011. Originally offering five flights per week, the interim schedule will now allow for three flights to and from Dar es Salaam. Read more >>
 [Rod Baker] Air Mauritius is a small airline with big dreams and is a major carrier between South Africa and the airline's home island of Mauritius, and many, many points beyond. Read more >>
 [Rod Baker] Long Beach, Sun Resorts' new hotel development on the Belle Mare Peninsula, on the east coast of Mauritius, opened its doors to the media in early June to sample what has been designed to be a one-of-a-kind hotel for guests who have had the opportunity to stay there since it opened in April 2011. All pictures by Lettie Ferreira unless otherwise stated. Read more >>
More Travel news...
 [Corné Krige] What a weekend of Super Rugby! This competition has been so long that supporters are nearly as tired of rugby as the players. Yet this weekend was one to remember with massive local derbies deciding who goes through to the play-offs. Read more >>
 Kylie Minogue will be performing Aphrodite Live at GrandWest's Grand Arena, Cape Town, for the first time on South African shores on Wednesday, 13 and Thursday, 14 July, 2011, at 8pm. Read more >>
 [Ruth Cooper] "Measured in Falls", the much anticipated second album from Cape Town's dark indie boys is exactly what one would expect from Ashtray Electric: mature, dark, and sombre lyrics sung in Andre's distinctly deep and enunciated voice, combined with large-scale sweepingly accomplished instrumentation and a rather self-restrained album design incorporating photographed DNA samples of the four band members. All combines to suggest a truly well-thought-out and intimately personal album. Read more >>
 Big Concerts has announced that The Parlotones will support Coldplay when they perform in South Africa on Wednesday, 5 October at Cape Town Stadium and Saturday, 8 October, 2011, at the Soccer City Complex, FNB Stadium Johannesburg. Read more >>
 [Debbie Hathway] I remember years ago a fellow Durban dance critic complaining that the Playhouse Theatre lights were too dark for writing notes. I make notes regardless - a comment about the performers who excelled and interesting things about aspects like the set, music, costumes and choreography. Anything that moves me and that I think will inspire people to book tickets or entertain readers who can't get to the theatre. Read more >>
More BizLounge news...
An exists within TFG Financial Services overseeing an insurance portfolio. This role is responsible for managing a business unit comprising a number of revenue generating insurance products. Read more >>An opportunity exists within the CRM Department of TFG (The Foschini Group) for a dynamic, highly motivated individual who is energetic, results driven and is a strategic player. Read more >>Ensure Client (FMCG) receives settlement for all credit/debit card transactions.
Review of ledger accounts and ensure all open transactions are followed up and resolved. Read more >>
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- Open your eyes to your customer's experience Synovate - Johannesburg, 23 June
- Management accounting and finance Varsity College - Pietermaritzburg, 25 June
- Africa rail 2011 Terrapinn - Johannesburg, 27 June
- Studio portraiture Visual Skills School - Pretoria, 28 June
- Walter Pike on new marketing - public talk onematchstick - Johannesburg, 29 June
- Write and sell articles for magazines SA Writers' College - Countrywide, 5 July
- Coaching the creative person - including yourself Mixed Media - Melkbosch Strand, 9 July
- Draping advance Elect Training Academy - Durban, 13 July
- Nando's Jozi comedy festival - Fourways, 22 July
- Clothing design and construction course Inscape Design College - Cape Town, 25 July
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"Plan the sale when you plan the ad. (via Adland.tv)" - Leo Burnett "There is no such thing as soft sell and hard sell. There is only smart sell and stupid sell. (via Adland.tv)" - Charles Browder "Research is creating new knowledge. (via Dumb.com)" - Neil Armstrong "Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose. (via dumb.com)" - Zora Neale Hurston
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