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'Businesses are ready to pay for customers' Pokemon GO has taken the world by storm, a week in and already looking to influence retail in a big way. With its 'lure module' feature, restaurants, coffee shops and small retailers are able to attract virtual Pokemon characters to the store and therefore new customers too. Reuters reports: "L'inizio Pizza Bar in Long Island City in New York claims its sales jumped 75% over the weekend by activating the feature. The store's manager spent $10 to have a dozen Pokemon characters placed in the location, according to a report in the New York Post." Estelle Nagel believes that through the #CheckersLittleShop campaign, the retailer is teaching kids a valuable lesson about commerce, just not the one they think... But rather that businesses are ready to pay for customers. This certainly holds true for L'inizio Pizza Bar. Keeping to the subject of pizza, on Friday Debonairs announced its 'doughnation' drive on Facebook, encouraging customers to buy more pizza over the weekend so that they could donate more flat breads made of off-cuts to the needy today. While mostly met with favourable responses, the chain drew a few negative ones accusing it from trying to profit from the charity project. On that note, and on the back of BrandsEye's Brexit accomplishment, whereby the media analytics company accurately predicted the outcome of the Brexit vote over and above its competitors, the polls and pundits, Sindy Peters reports back on Melanie Malherbe's talk at the Nedbank Franchising Seminar. She covered social listening and sentiment analysis, and how "just listening in on a conversation, using social media and just getting in on people's minds can actually make a difference to your day-to-day business". This week for #MandelaMonth, I interview Unilever's Sibonile Dube on the FMCG company's new integrated brightFuture Schools Programme, and KFC's Cathy Qama on Add Hope - its all-year-round national feeding initiative. Happy Mandela Day! Jessica Tennant, Retail Editor (@Biz_Retail)
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Pokemon GO, a mobile game that has rocketed to the top of Apple and Android app stores in record time, looks set to challenge young internet companies that specialise in increasing foot traffic for small businesses, and may end up playing a role in major brands' marketing... Read | Estelle Nagel If you are a Checkers shopper, you would have received a packet of tiny toy groceries along with your regular fare this week... Read | Sindy Peters On the lineup of the recent Nedbank Franchising Seminar, Melanie Malherbe of BrandsEye SA unpacked the power of social media and how franchisees can make the most out of this ever-evolving tool in business... Read |
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 | Nompumelelo Magwaza Brexit has provided South African citrus growers a reason to cheer as the industry has been in a spot of bother because of stringent EU import requirements... read | | |
 | Cashbuild's revenue jumped 9% in the fourth quarter to June from the previous financial year, with 20 new stores opening since the beginning of July 2014, contributing a 3% increase... read | |  | After a tough six months in its quest for European expansion, Steinhoff has finally sealed a deal with UK discount retailer Poundland Group, agreeing to a £597m cash offer... read | |  | Colleen Goko Consumers are getting less bang for their hard-earned bucks as manufacturers downsize their products to contain costs. Prices, however, have remained the same and, in some cases, increased... read | |  | Robert Laing The JSE looked set for its fifth day of gains on Wednesday, judging from markets trading ahead of it which were uniformly green... read | |  | Ann Crotty Country Bird Holdings (CBH) looks to be on track to block a proposed scheme that threatens to put control of Sovereign Foods out of its reach... read | |  | Hilary Joffe SA's new sugar tax could add 20% to the price of a Coca-Cola, but would exempt Liquifruit and other 100% fruit juices, along with unsweetened milk and bottled water... read | | |
 | Colleen Goko Books, pens, uniforms and miscellaneous - harried parents throughout SA have forked out thousands of rand in the run-up to the third term of the government school year, which kicks off on Monday... read | | |
 | With its 50 shopping areas, Pretoria East has more formal retail space available per 1,000 people than other major cities. The area accounts for over 700,000m² of the ±3m-m² of formal retail space in the City of Tshwane and more are planned, posing the question, is this market oversupplied? read | |  | Alistair Anderson Rebosis Property Fund has changed the terms of its takeover deal with developer Billion Group following pressure from investors who said the retail-focused group was overpaying for some assets... read | |  | Paul Stewart How do you sell something that doesn't yet exist? How do you sell something you can't see? How do you sell something that you cannot touch, hear, smell or feel... read | | |
 | In order to promote mutual trade and investment opportunities in the fresh fruit sectors between South Africa and Italy, Fruit South Africa and the AICE have signed a MoU... read | |  | SA, which is set to produce the smallest maize crop since 2008 this year, may miss a target to import enough of the white variety this season... read | | |
 | At the Clover Mama Afrika Smarties Week, a hands-on training course that sees the Clover Mama Afrika women travel from different provinces to partake in a week of value added workshops, Mama Mirriam Toni has won the Ultimate Cleanliness and Hygiene Award... read | |  | Issued by Bizcommunity.com Brothers and Bizters, this year sees Bizcommunity launch the inaugural Bizters for Bread Corporate Challenge, whereby we are inviting our fellow Cape Town-based biz communities to rise to our challenge to walk against hunger... read | | |
 | Hein Pretorius The online race for capturing the biggest share of the customer's wallet has left many a traditional retailer trailing behind, not through technology but through the offline movement of ordered goods... read | |
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 | A new cushion range, Scatterloader, which supports a skills development NPO, is now available from online fashion store Superbalist.com... read | | |
 | Stimorol has introduced a new logo and packaging design and added a new brand ambassador to its current duo... read | |  | At the International Spirits Competition (ISC), held recently in London, Bain's Cape Mountain Whisky won Whiskies of the World Trophy, one of only three whiskies in the category that featured many international brands, to have been bestowed a trophy... read | | |
 | As part of its 20th anniversary celebrations, the Sandwich Baron ran a 'Varsity Eat Off' as one of 20 activations... read | | |
 | Ntsakisi Maswanganyi Manufacturing production improved for the second consecutive month in May - an indication that the sector grew in the second quarter and helped the country to avoid a technical recession... read | | |
 | Mondi is acquiring Russian flexible packaging maker Uralplastic for an undisclosed amount... read | |  | Issued by Pyrotec Pharmaceutical labelling clients are looking for peace of mind when it comes to compliance and patient safety - as well as solutions that streamline their packaging processes in a cost-effective manner... read | | |
 | UK supermarket chain Sainsbury's has become the first company in the world to introduce a refrigerated delivery truck cooled by a liquid nitrogen powered engine, which the company says will eliminate all emissions associated with refrigeration... read | | |
 | BMi Research has released its report on the South African malt beer market, which indicates that this is a mature market, with traditionally little change in volume growth per annum... read | | |
 | The Health Products Association of South Africa has recently undergone a brand refresh and a new marketing positioning strategy, to prepare itself for a growing number of industry needs... read | |  | TBWA\Hunt Lascaris has created a new TVC and online ad for All Gold, as part of the brand's revamped packaging... read | |  | Clive Evans Late last year I was full of praise for what Pick n Pay were doing to both attract and retain customers with their Smart Shopper loyalty program and their Stickeez promotion... read | |
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 | Bekezela Phakathi Mr Delivery, a home-grown delivery service that began operating in 1992, says it is ready for the increased competition in the home delivery and takeaway food sector... read | | |
 | Colleen Goko Truworths reported double-digit sales growth for the year to end-June, boosted by the acquisitions of the Office Group, Earthchild and Naartjie... read | |  | Colleen Goko Despite rising sales, Woolworths's full-year trading update was met with a cold shoulder on Thursday, after it reported a performance that fell below analysts' expectation... read | |  | According to StatsSA, retail trade sales increased by 4.5% in May 2016, compared to a year ago at constant prices. This comes after a year-on-year uptick of 1.6% in April... read | |  | Retail sales growth accelerated in May, providing a positive surprise for a sector that has felt the effects of consumers under pressure from rising unemployment, increasing living costs and high interest rates... read | | |
 | Jonathan Herbert While it may be tempting for big food franchises entering South Africa to import their goods from suppliers in their 'head office' country, there are many good reasons to set up a strong, effective local supply chain... read | | |
 | Brett Parker Trade is in Africa's blood. Its rich resources, numerous societies and access to the world have created a hotbed of trade civilisations... read | |
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| Michael Jordan "You must expect great things of yourself before you can do them" Vince Lombardi "The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have." Winston Churchill "Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm." Helen Keller "Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow." George Eliot "It is never too late to be what you might have been."" |
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