Retail, Associations, Banking & Finance, Brand News, Cold Chain, Commercial Property, CRM, CSI, Distribution, E-commerce, E-Commerce Awards, Exhibitions & Events, Fashion, Clothing & Textiles, FMCG, Franchising, Green Sustainability, Health & Safety, Hospitality, Import/Export, In-store Media, Informal Retailing, Logistics, Manufacturing, Merchandising, Packaging, Refrigeration, Regulatory, Research, Retail Marketing, Retail Services, Retail Trends, Retailers, Sales, Security, Shipping & Transport, Shopfitting, Supply Chain, Technology, Training, Trends |
All to do with e-commerce On day one of the eCommerce Africa Confex (17-18 February), Nicci Botha interviewed advisory panelist Emilian Popa on raising venture capital and securing investment in e-commerce. She also covered PayPal's Efi Dahan on a recent survey conducted by the company, which expects significant growth in the use of mobiles for e-commerce. "About 50% of South African online shoppers who own a smartphone have used it to shop online, while another 21% say they will in the future," reported Botha. On day two, Mel Gischen of PayU explained how consumer behaviour is already playing a role in driving innovation in the mobile payment arena. Hence the changing face of financial services... Botha summarises the panel discussion on Agile Payments: Overcoming the challenges and creating an effective payment system. In his article on The weight of the no wait debate, Seth Whitehead wonders whether online shopping will ever replace the traditional brick and mortar store. On the other hand, Mthokozisi Ndlovu asks: Is Africa ready for increased online shopping? While Africa's internet and ICT infrastructure still has a long way to go, online shopping via smartphones is seeing increased growth in under-developed countries where mobile is the predominant means to access the internet. This week #DesignMonth features design:retail's Alison Embrey Medina on artificial intelligence in the retail technology space. She joins the conversation of whether technology will eventually evolve beyond humanity's ability to control it. And Cari van Wyk interviews Lynsay Sampson of Fairtrade Label South Africa. Jessica Taylor, Retail Editor (@Biz_Retail)
Comment online in our ed's column archive. Go mobile with apps and m.bizcommunity.com. Engage with us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+. Subscribe to YouTube and via RSS. Send all your retail news and event invitations to retailnews@bizcommunity.com, exclusive opinion pieces to contributors-retail@bizcommunity.com and international news to internationalnews@bizcommunity.com. Read "How to contribute to Biz, from op-ed pieces to news". | Weekly top stories |
Nicci Botha Four online business gurus, Andrew Dean, managing director: Calleo; Tim Bishop, online and mobile strategy innovator; Charles Pittaway, managing director: Sage Pay and Craig Mcleod, founder: GetBuildToday answered some questions... Read | Mthokozisi Ndlovu Africa is increasingly migrating into online shopping, as its consumers continue to change their culture of shopping, indicating a massive migration and adoption of e-stores... Read | Nicci Botha An obsession with social media means we are permanently attached to a mobile device, so it's logical that this is where the future of financial services delivery lies... Read | Seth Whitehead I recently bought a watch from an online store. I went through the usual online user experience: I went online, searched through the pages of a vast variety of watches. I had a type of style in mind... Read | Nicci Botha The way people buy and sell online has changed, with mobile becoming the link between online and offline shopping, says Efi Dahan, PayPal Regional Director: Africa and Israel... Read | Nicci Botha The total amount of growth funding globally is $12 billion, but only $200 million is invested in tech start-ups in Africa, so the continent is still very small proportion of global market, says Emilian Popa, Principal, Digital Growth: Africa and Middle East... Read | Cari Van Wyk Fairtrade South Africa is celebrated for its pioneering spirit; the Cape Town-based office was the global organisation's first marketing and business development setup Read | Alison Embrey Medina With highly publicised warnings of the risks of venturing too far down the artificial intelligence trail from academic and business moguls like Stephen Hawking, Elon Musk and Bill Gates, the conversation of whether technology will eventually evolve beyond humanity's ability to control it can lead to quite the fascinating debate. Read | Krispy Kreme, the doughnut brand, is set to open its second South African store at the Sandton Gautrain Station on Wednesday, 24 February 2016... Read |
|
| | |
 | Marc Hasenfuss Liquor brands conglomerate Distell reported strong growth in Southern African markets, but the economic hangover from a lower oil price has drastically curtailed expansion plans in Angola... read | |  | Zeenat Moorad Truworths defied SA's retail sector malaise, reporting strong first-half figures on Thursday. read | |  | Mark Allix Tiger Brands appears to have started to put the costs of its failed foray into Nigeria behind it, a trading update for the four months ended January shows... read | |  | Marc Hasenfuss CAPE TOWN - Gold Brands Investments, which owns the Chesa Nyama fast food franchise, saw a relatively bland listing on the JSE's AltX on Friday... read | |
|
CONNECT WITH LOW-INCOME SHOPPERS, STOKVELS, INFORMAL TRADERS & MOREHow to reach, engage & serve Low-Income Consumers - get FRESH perspective, REAL insight and DIRECT answers!
LEARN MORE |
|
|
|
|
 | On Wednesday, 17 February, Emira Property Fund Limited announced 8.8% growth in distributions per share for its half-year to December 2015... read | |
|
|
|
 | Stuart Thomas South African e-commerce is in a better place today than at any other time in its history. According to research released by PayPal earlier this week, online shopping in South Africa is expected to reach R37-billion this year and to jump to R46-billion in 2017... read | |  | Johan Nel With the budget speech coming up next week, it is anticipated that the finance minister is likely to be focused on growing the sluggish South African economy, but a hidden online economy has quietly been thriving beneath the surface that we have not yet begun to explore fully... read | |  | A global survey for PayPal, conducted by Ipsos, which sheds light on consumer shopping habits in South Africa has found that online shopping in SA is expected to reach R37 billion this year... read | |  | Ryan Kidman In the last couple of years, we've seen a major shift in focus among e-commerce merchandising sites. Up until about the year 2011, most sites focused on new customer acquisition. Now, the focus has been diverted towards retaining their customers... read | | |
 | Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Joburg will return to the Nelson Mandela Square and Sandton City precinct to stage Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Joburg in both 2016 and 2017... read | |  | Getting to know the consumer, monitoring trends and understanding the role of technology will underline this year's 6th Annual SA Council of Shopping Centres (SACSC) Research Conference, which takes place in Sandton on 13 April 2016... read | |  | South African buyers and importers will have an opportunity to discover Mauritius as an up-and-coming textile and apparel sourcing destination next month... read | | |
 | Eugene Yiga When Alice Heusser and Olivia Kennaway met while studying at a Cape Town fashion design school in 2004, they had no idea their friendship would create a company making waves across the continent... read | |  | Claudia Albrechts, Issued by College of Cape Town Sakhile Ndawo, a third-year College of Cape Town Jewellery Manufacturing student, was rewarded with an Honourable Mention in the prestigious PlatAfrica 2015 competition for his innovative and inspiring design... read | | |
 | With restaurants having already developed their winter menus for this year, the Slo-Jo team has its fingers on the pulse of taste trends for 2016... read | | |
 | The Zone Boulevard, a newly revamped building forming part of The Zone @ Rosebank with its indoor/outdoor design, delightful vertical garden, views across a bustling square and romantic nighttime lighting is the perfect place for alfresco dining... read | | |
 | Linda Ensor Price collusion in the furniture removal sector is rife and endemic. Some of the seven firms being investigated by the Competition Commission were previously investigated and found to have acted in contravention of the Competition Act... read | | |
 | Issued by Pyrotec The packaging environment is evolving fast as technology takes even the leanest, most streamlined production lines to a new level of efficiency... read | | |
 | Mpact's R350 million state-of-the-art polyethylene terephthalate (PET) recycling operation in Wadeville, Germiston, which produces recycled PET (rPET) plastic for food grade packaging, recently announced that its recycling process complies with European Union (EU) Food Safety Authority specifications... read | | |
 | Zeenat Moorad The Competition Commission on Thursday announced the appointment of a panel for the grocery retail sector market inquiry which is due to tackle the exclusivity of lease agreements at shopping malls - a battle being fought largely among big retail chains... read | | |
 | Style icon David Beckham has shot his latest H&M campaign for the launch of the spring 2016 Modern Essentials selected by David Beckham collection... read | |  | Erik du Plessis and Neil Higgs Determining (thinking about!) your brand's target market, it is important to know where the market is growing, and from where the growth brands are getting their growth... read | |  | Issued by Knowledge Resources Doing business with the poor is complex. Here is a unique platform to get fresh perspective, real insight and direct answers on how to do successful business at the bottom of the pyramid... read | |  | Issued by Scan Display In recent months, Scan Retail has begun using multimedia, social media and gamification elements on its clients' mall activation stands to attract new customers and build brand loyalty... read | | |
 | Retail trade sales came in better than expected in December, increasing by 4.1% compared with a year ago after rising by 3.8% in November, Statistics SA data showed on Wednesday. .. read | | | | |
 | The way humans have been getting products from one place to another hasn't changed much in more than a century .... The advent of the Internet Age, however, is priming to change that or lack thereof. It's just up to business leaders to take the lead and revolutionise the shipping industry for the 21st century... read | | |
 | Global supply chains suffered from growing risk in Q4 2015, led by the slowdown in China's economy, according to the latest CIPS Risk Index, powered by Dun & Bradstreet and produced for the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS), tracks the impact of economic and political developments on the stability of global supply chains... read | |  | Service delivery to citizens and customers is influenced by the entire process of supply chain management, not just procurement or logistics... read | | |
 | Stellenbosch-based Skybird Technologies has launched an integrated software platform called One, which makes use of specialised Gimbal proximity beacons... read | | |  | SAN FRANCISCO - Google said on Wednesday it was adding fresh foods to its grocery delivery service, ramping up its challenge to Amazon and a long list of delivery startups... read | |  | FRANKFURT - Beiersdorf, the German maker of Nivea cream products, said Wednesday it expects to attain higher sales and earnings this year after a "successful" year in 2015... read | | | More International | |
|  | Weylandts, the leaders in furniture and decor outfitters, are seeking a motivated, and ambitious national visual merchandising manager to join their team at the head office in Cape Town. Read more >> |
| | |  This event is designed to help companies and brands understand what it takes to do successful business at the BoP and how to tap into its consumers. Read more >> | | | | |
| Richard Branson "Do not be embarrassed by your failures, learn from them and start again." Jane Smiley "In my experience, there is only one motivation, and that is desire. No reasons or principle contain it or stand against it." Rosa Parks "Memories of our lives, of our works and our deeds will continue in others." William Durant "Forget past mistakes. Forget failures. Forget everything except what you're going to do now and do it." Martha Washington "I've learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions and not on our circumstances." |
More quotes Submit a Quote | |
 | Print any item in this newsletter. |
 | Email any item in this newsletter. |
 | Comment on any item in this newsletter. |
|
|
|
|
 Twitter |
|
|
