At a time when other retailers have posted solid results while warning of tougher times to come, there’s bad news out of Massmart, which has said that it expects a loss of R1.05bn to R1.16bn for the six months through June – a YoY change ranging from a +3.5% improvement to a -6.5% decline. And if you take out the numbers from Cambridge, Rhino, and Massfresh (which the business sold to Shoprite), the picture is even worse, with a YoY decline of -11.3% to -21.3%. One bright spot is liquor sales, which grew +21.3%; another was online, where revenue increased +47% and orders +113%. Last year’s unrest took a significant toll on the business, with 43 stores and two DCs destroyed, and an accounting loss of R605.9m. So too did the COVID prohibition, losing Massmart R1.8bn in alcohol sales. With the Game overhaul now complete and delivering mixed results, Massmart will focus its efforts on growing the online offering and investing in the more successful Builders and Makro brands.

Comment: A business with a solid turnaround strategy meets a perfect storm of circumstances beyond its control. Hopefully it will weather them.

In a first for South African retail, and perhaps an indication of the shape of things to come, a new luxury apartment complex on Cape Town’s Atlantic Seaboard, Station House, will feature all the mod cons, including a boutique signature Pick n Pay supermarket – in keeping with the Big Blue’s new strategy to segment its market with offerings across the economic spectrum, including the upper end. Moving on, in its drive to achieve zero packaging waste to landfill, 40 Woolworths stores are currently running a ‘Take Back’ initiative, in which punters may drop off their worn-out reusable shopping bags to be recycled into next-generation products. And Woolies’ fresh milk bottles are made of 30% green plastic, derived from a by-product of sugar cane, a renewable resource that also captures CO₂. Finally, as Women’s Day dawns again, Shoprite inform us that 65% of the Group’s more than 145,000 staff are women, in positions that range from truck driving to deliberating on the Board, over half of whose non-executive directors are women.

Comment: It’s in the executive suite where women remain under-represented, a situation that is changing, but slowly.

In Australia, where rising inflation has joined the blue ringed octopus and the tunnel web spider in making life difficult for the beleaguered population, blokes and sheilas alike are outraged by the record profits expected to be posted by retailers Coles and Woolworths (no relation to our own), which are accused of price gouging during this difficult ambit. “You can’t use inflation as a reason to make money, it’s shocking,” splutters farmer Guy Gaeta. “They’re ruthless.” In the US, not entirely related to the matter of grocery retail, Amazon has bought iRobot, the business that makes those automatic room-cleaning Roomba robots so beloved of the directors of cat videos, like this one here. In a further incursion into the privacy of its customers, Amazon is apparently interested in the maps generated by Roomba as it builds a more perfect picture of each and every aspect of their lives. iRobot began life as a maker of military technology. Back to Aus, where Woolworths (again, no relation) has launched an online delivery service, Woolworths at Work, which offers over 20,000 products, from fresh food to stationery and cleaning products, to the denizens of businesses and organisations across a range of sectors.

Comment: A smart move by that Aussie Woolworths, and one which some of our enterprising retailers might seek to emulate.

To the green hills of Kenya now, where our research team recently spent a week in the trade, exploring the challenges and opportunities of this dynamic and growing market, and talking to retailers and service providers, including Twiga Foods. Twiga provides a range of distribution services to a network of 140,000 stores across the country – around 25% of the total market. These services include online ordering, a bidding system for small farmers wishing to supply the retail trade, financial services for small businesses, an analytics platform offering real-time product performance metrics, actual farms which provide produce to the trade, and even a range of private label products. Twiga’s trucks cover 12,000km every day, handling over 2 million kgs of assorted products. “By aggregating consumer demand, we are building more robust and efficient supply chains that support business growth for suppliers, consistent quality for retailers, and most importantly – greater food security for everyone in Africa,” says the business.

Comment: An interesting model which combines the services of enterprises across the supply chain, from farming and manufacturing, to logistics, to data analytics.

Tiger Brands, South Africa’s largest food producer, spends on average R4.2bn procuring goods and services from black women-owned enterprises every year and is actively working to increase this number by integrating more women-owned businesses into its value chain. At least 70 women farmers across South Africa provide key ingredients to Tiger Brands, for such iconic brands as KOO, All Gold, Black Cat and ACE. Some of these farmers benefit from Tiger Brands’ Agriculture Aggregator Programme which helps them to grow at scale and operate at a commercial level. Tiger Brands provides ‘aggregators’ with market access and the opportunity to receive input finance, agrarian and technical support. “It fills us with great pride that South Africa’s most iconic homegrown brands have powerful and motivated women behind them who not only run their own businesses as successful entrepreneurs, but also create employment and bring positive change in the lives of others and communities,” says Chief Corporate Affairs and Sustainability Officer Mary-Jane Morifi.

Comment: Supplier development is a uniquely advanced discipline among South African retailers and suppliers, and a powerful tool in the empowerment of women in the value chain.

The inclination and ability of South Africans to spend has been much in the spotlight lately. But what of our ability to save? According to the Old Mutual Savings and Investment Monitor survey (OMSIM), more have begun to put money aside in an emergency fund, perhaps rattled by the economic vagaries of the past two years. During the height of COVID, 40% of respondents reported that their household would not survive a month without a salary. Today, that number has dropped significantly, to 29%. OMSIM (we do love a good acronym) has further noted that the number of the households with sufficient funds to last more than three months without a salary has increased from 27% in 2020 to 39% in 2022. It also notes that people are becoming more inclined to trim expenses: 23% of respondents say that they have become more aware of spending and have become more cautious with their money. However, 52% say that they dip into their savings to make ends meet each month, and almost 40% report borrowing from either friends or family.

Comment: Fascinating insights, digging deeper into the financial reality of South African families across the spectrum.