Those Shoprite results then, after a results season that has seemed to last the entire year. Sales were up a solid +4.7% to R83.4bn for the year through December, and trading profit an impressive +18.3% to R4.7bn. Here in the Beloved Country, sales increased +5.6%, with Checkers, the star performer, growing sales +11.1%. This points to a growth in market share on the part of the Group’s posher outfit that must surely be putting the wind up competitors Pick n Pay and Woolworths – particularly in the light of Checkers’ very successful Sixty60 delivery offering. Checkers added a further ten FreshX concept stores during the period, for a total of 38. Another highlight of the year was the continued growth of the bare bones Xtra Savings rewards programme, launched just over a year ago, and now boasting 17 million members. What’s the deal with that? “The success of Xtra Savings is its simplicity and transparency,” says Group strategy and innovation chief Neil Schreuder. “No points and no levels, it’s all about straight-forward instant savings on things you actually need.”

Comment: A great South African business, going from strength to strength.

Globally, the SPAR Group are rolling out an important initiative to reduce food waste: a real-time, automated mobile platform helping food stores sell more close-to-expiry date, discounted food products. The aptly-named Gander, a location-driven app, plugs into retailers’ POS systems and allows shoppers to see all the reduced-to-clear product in their area and make their shopping choices accordingly. “Our food waste reduction strategy leverages technology to achieve greater efficiency at each step,” says Tobias Wasmuht, CEO of SPAR International. “Working with entrepreneurial platforms such as Gander provides sustainable solutions that are important as SPAR seeks ways to reduce the environmental impact.” The system has already been trialled in Northern Ireland through the local Henderson Group of SPAR stores.

Comment: We’ve downloaded the app and it looks legit. This may be one of those ones that every retailer will eventually have to have to capture value-conscious shoppers with an interest in doing the right thing by dear old Mother E.

Financial services are old hat now among South Africa’s retailers. Pharmacy? Yawn. Ticket sales? Sure, why not. So the next frontier of value-added services, it seems, is mobile communications, in the form of the impenetrably-acronymed MVNO, or mobile virtual network operator. Last October, you will recall, Pick n Pay announced that it was planning to launch Pick n Pay Mobile, and that Boxer would launch Boxercom, using MTN’s mobile network infrastructure. So virtual, then, in the sense that it seems you’re getting your mobile data and voice services through a retailer. Shoprite have announced that it will be launching its own MVNO, K’nect Mobile, next month, hitching a ride on Cell C’s network (and, in turn, MTN’s in a roaming agreement). “K’nect Mobile’s key differentiator is simplicity, with flat call and data rates, and no complicated tiers. Airtime, data bundles and rewards only expire after 60 days, rather than the more common 30-day expiry,” Shoprite said in a statement. While of course it’s nice to offer your customers more services from which you may extract a profit, it’s also nice to use the six petabytes of data you have on them to slice and dice the market and target your offerings on an increasingly granular level.

Comment: It’s not exaggerating to say that retailers will soon know their shoppers better than they – the shoppers – know themselves. And that for the retailers this will soon be part of the necessary cost of doing business.

In the US, Walmart has dropped the rule that only US suppliers could sell merch on the Big Feller’s site. The big winner here will be Chinese companies, which make up 40% of sales (and 75% of new sellers on Walmart rival Amazon. But who knows? Maybe there’s a gap for South African businesses too. Biltong, for example, is getting increasingly popular over there as a substitute for the jammy, gummy and entirely explicable jerky. Over in the UK, in partnership with spud supplier Branston, Tesco have decided to leave the dirt on their potatoes as a means of increasing their shelf life and reducing food waste – while at the same time presumably taking both time and water out of their value chain. And in Brazil, further evidence of Carrefour’s global rampage, with the purchase for €1.1bn of local rival Grupo BIG. Brazil is Carrefour’s second biggest market after home-turf, France. Except there, they call it le turf domestique.

Comment: Speaking of biltong – should we not trademark it in the way we have rooibos, and the French have champagne?

Big news for RCL FOODS in its long journey to diversify away from poultry is that it has partnered with US plant-based food outfit Livekindly Collective in a local plant-based joint venture, Livekindly Collective Africa. The JV will market, sell and distribute all of Livekindly Collective’s brands – including local hero Fry Family Food Co. and global brands LikeMeat and Oumph! – in South and Sub-Saharan Africa. The Collective, under the stewardship of Kees Kruythoof, ex-of Unilever, aims to transform the global food system by rapidly creating a plant-based food “ecosystem” of scale from farm to fork, and has been building a global brand portfolio while entering strategic partnerships with established platforms like RCL FOODS.

Comment: Huge for RCL, and indeed for the world. A match that has our enthusiastic blessing.

South Africans are changing their consumption behaviour as grocery costs increase – between September 2020 and February 2021, food prices have increased +5.1% across a basket of 44 prioritised food items, putting a strain on household budgets. The NielsenIQ study “Unlocking Consumption in 2021” found that 64% of South African shoppers would switch to the lowest priced products among their preferred brands, and South African retailers are heeding the call for value. Broadsheet discount promotions, previously focused around month-end, are now offering shoppers exceptional value on their favourite brands at any time of the month, across all the major retailers. Multi-buy promotions include essential grocery hampers for families, featuring branded and private label products. Private label products are receiving priority exposure through broadsheet promotions and product placement on prime promotional spots such as gondola ends, highlighting cost-competitive alternatives to cash-strapped shoppers. For more on private label, have a look at our opinion piece here.

Comment: What does this mean? With value promotions constantly on offer, cash-strapped South African shoppers will increasingly plan their shopping trips around promotions. Brands will feel the pressure to compete with private label on price. And while more than half of South Africa’s brand-loyal consumers say they will stick to their preferred brand, many will consider switching to cost competitive alternatives.