This story was made using SAP, so prepare yourself for terms like “enterprise-wide” and “integration issues”, plus serious people in dark suits could pop up without a moment’s warning and charge you millions of bucks for something that you can’t actually clap eyes on.  Anyway, cut to the chase: thanks to SAP, Pick n Pay has become the first retailer in the world to implement realtime processing for the central earning and redemption of loyalty points. This as it rejigs its Smart Shopper Loyalty Programme. This is laying the groundwork for driving integrated realtime campaigns and more personalised offers, while adding new clubs to the loyalty programme – without adding infrastructure or additional expense to the business. Practically this means that each member will receive a personalised message each week, with special offers targeted at the individual. 

Comment: A – dare we say – smart move at a time when Pick n Pay has rejigged its rewards system.

It’s price war time, who’s winning eh? Depends we suppose, on what one’s definition of winning is. Quite frankly, though, there’s not much to choose between the top three: on a basket thoughtfully selected by BusinessTech, SPAR and Pick n Pay came in at R276 and R273 respectively, while Checkers pipped them both at R244, switching top spot with Pick n Pay, who led the log in the year 15. Woolies, of course was way down the table, at R309. Of the four, Checkers has kept it tightest in an inflationary environment, with a R46 difference increase over the two years, while Pick n Pay performed worst, at R64. And this war of the theoretical baskets is also being fought in the trenches of the broadsheets: this week, daring girl detectives from Trade Intelligence established that Pick n Pay were offering low low deals on their BIRTHDAY PROMOTION, while Checkers was boldly stating that “Fact: No Other Supermarket Brings You More Deals” and SPAR were averring, with little subtlety, that only they could give you the “Lowest Prices” and the “Biggest Deals”.

Comment: Price wars attend hard times as mosquitos attend Durban gardens in February.

“The regulatory groundwork to overhaul the grocery retail market was begun this week,” intone our colleagues over at The Times, portentously. Um, if you say so. What did happen, however, was that submissions were made on behalf of the Little Guy to the first public hearings at the Competition Commission, which as you know, is deliberating on the anti-competitive forces at play among our big four retailers. Buying power and pricing appear to be the big gripes, with independent retailers unable to compete on either. "There’s a structural flaw in retail trading in SA, which has made the ‘big four’ too big, leaving independent stores [with] little leverage," said Louis Greeff, the MD of independent buying group Elite Star Trading Africa at the hearings. "The findings of the inquiry will provide a factual basis upon which the panel can make evidence-based recommendations to the Minister of Economic Development in order to promote competition,” said panelist Lulama Mtanga.

Comment: So perhaps the winds of change are blowing on the continent once more. But this time they are not blowing for the colonialists.

Hunger on our university campuses, shockingly remains a problem in this day and age. Enter a partnership between Tiger Brands and the University of the Western Cape, where the Striped One has helped establish a pantry on campus as part of a holistic exercise to address student wellness and wellbeing. Tiger has agreed to deliver monthly stock over an initial three-month period to help feed hundreds of needy students, with a view to setting up a longer term partnership. Nor is UWC the first such initiative – Tiger currently partners with four other campuses, distributing some 63,000 food parcels every month. The partnership does acknowledge the sometimes troubled nature of charity in this country and recognises the need to empower students as part of a comprehensive skills programme to promote self-dependency.

Comment: Public problems, public/private solutions. This is how we’re going to do it.

Amid the gloom, a light shines on the Platteland. As other sectors of the economy continue to decline – manufacturing, for example, shrank by 3.7% for the first quarter of the year – agriculture, if not booming then is in strong recovery, growing 22% year-on-year as memories of the drought recede. AgriSA are talking up the numbers and using this growth to highlight the importance of the sector for the economy, and by inference the importance of leaving the sector alone rather than getting too caught up in land reform and the like. Also in agricultural news: local producers are targeting Asian markets – including Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the Middle East – for growth as they decide what to do with this year’s bumper maize crop. 

Comment: Geez but it’s nice not to have the farmers tjanking in our ears for a change.

From the last couple of years, any story about the dismal shape of things has concluded with words to the effect that “at least we’re not in recession.” Those days are, for the moment, behind us: after a decline of GDP by 0.7% in the first quarter of 2017, after a 0.3% loss in the last quarter of 2016, the country is, indeed, in a technical recession. Seven out of ten economic divisions reported declines for the period, with the saddest sack being the petroleum, chemical products, rubber and plastic products sector. Household spending must also bear a share of the blame – having ticked up in the last three quarters, it is down by 2.3%. The last time we went into recession was for three dark quarters in ’08-’09. 

Comment: The darkest hour comes just before the dawn, says English churchman and historian Thomas Fuller. It is fondly to be hoped that he was right.

Kellogg’s – they of the oddly-coloured, deeply retro breakfast flakes, are in an undignified trademark battle with Australian tennis ace Thanasi Kokkinaki and his doubles partner Nick Kyrgios, who with all the originality the Australian sporting press can muster, are known as “The Special K’s”, a name they now wish to use to brand their line of tight white shorts and naff polos. Kellogg’s, understandably and justifiably, are having none of it.

Doing the right thing by both communities and the planet this week are Pick n Pay which have invested R2m in a social enterprise vermiculture project, whereby organic waste from 15 Pick n Pay stores is being diverted to the Waste to Food project in Philippi for composting via a process eventually using earthworms, and sale by the community. Nice one.