ShopRite - Afrikan Heroes

Shoprite Ventures Into The Online Pet Supplies Market

September 1, 2022

Africa’s leading retail chain, Shoprite Group is taking its pet food and supplies brand, Petshop Science, online as traditional bricks-and-mortar retailers in South Africa increasingly focus on omnichannel sales.

Insane valuations attached to US online pet supply stores, coupled with expensive advertising campaigns in the Super Bowl, signalled the peak of the dot-com bubble 22 years ago, but the market has shifted and expanded considerably since then. And Shoprite is clearly of the view that South Africans are ready to get their pet supplies on the Internet.

In a statement on Wednesday, Shoprite said the “pet economy” is growing strongly in South Africa – evidenced by the fact that it opened 22 physical Petshop Science stores around the country in the past 12 months. It said the pet sector in South Africa is worth more than R7-billion/year.

“Petshop Science Online offers a broad selection of more than 2 000 pet-related products. These include food, treats, toys and more from premium brands like Hills, Montego, Dog’s Life, Eukanuba, Ultra Dog, Royal Canin, Rogz and Nandoe,” Shoprite said.

Delivery is free for orders over R450. A R75 delivery fee applies to orders less than this. Orders placed by 4pm within a 60km radius of the Cape Town and Sandton CBDs get next-day delivery.

Petshop Science customers can create online profiles for their pets, including the pet’s name, birth date, type and breed. Customers can access these profiles in stores, allowing the retailer to “serve loyal shoppers with special offers tailored to their pets’ needs”.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Shoprite Partners RRT in Joint Venture to Deepen e-commerce in South Africa

December 13, 2021

Africa’s largest supermarket group, Shoprite Holdings has said its upmarket grocery chain, Checkers, has entered into a joint venture agreement with its delivery partner, RTT Group, as part of a push to grow its e-commerce business.

After years spent lagging much of the world in terms of e-commerce, South African retailers and delivery start-ups have generated record online sales as consumers avoided shops during the Covid-19 pandemic.

But the boom has strained the capacity of even the largest retailers, forcing them to invest and make e-commerce acquisitions to improve wait times and services, complementing scheduled delivery and click-and-collect services with on-demand delivery. South African retailers and delivery start-ups have generated record online sales

Shoprite said the joint venture with RTT Group will protect the learning, technology and intellectual property created by the Checkers Sixty60 on-demand delivery service to date while facilitating future innovation and development of the group’s last-mile logistics.

“Owning the last-mile home delivery aspect of our Sixty60 service is an important part of building out our digital ecosystem for customers,” Shoprite Group CEO Pieter Engelbrecht said. “This RTT on-demand joint venture will allow the group the opportunity to continue enhancing our order fulfilment and last-mile delivery capabilities.”

The deal is due to be finalised prior to Shoprite’s June 2022 year-end.

RTT Group’s on-demand business will be transferred into a new company in which Shoprite Checkers will subscribe for 50% of the issued ordinary shares, Shoprite said. As part of the deal terms, Checkers Sixty60 will continue to use RTT on-demand as its delivery partner, it added.

Earlier this month fashion and homeware retailer TFG said it was buying on-demand online shopping platform and last-mile delivery provider Quench, while Massmart, majority-owned by Walmart, bought a controlling stake in grocery delivery service OneCart in October.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Why Shoprite Plans to Quit Operations in Uganda and Madagascar

August 28, 2021

The fortune of Africa’s largest retail outlet is going downhill as a dream of becoming Africa’s Walmart is coming to an end with closure of shops across other countries in Africa. Shoprite has announced plans that it is leaving Uganda and Madagascar where it set up shops in 2000 and 2002 respectively. Shoprite launched in Uganda in 2000, where it has five stores. It entered the Madagascan market in 2002 and operates 10 stores across the island.

Africa’s largest retailer, Shoprite Holdings, has announced plans to discontinue operations in Uganda and Madagascar, adding to its growing list of African departures.

In a statement yesterday, the company disclosed the news of its exit after announcing an 8.1 per cent increase in total merchandise sales from continuing operations to R168 billion for the 53 weeks ended July 2021. The retailer, which currently operates 10 stores in Madagascar and five stores in Uganda, also forecast a 25.3% rise in annual basic headline earnings per share from continuing operations.

“In line with the group’s non-RSA review process, our operations in Madagascar and Uganda have been classified as discontinued,” said Shoprite.

Shoprite has been reviewing its long-term ventures across Africa over the past year as currency devaluations; lower commodity prices and high inflation have impacted disposable household incomes negatively.

The South African retail giant is now adding Uganda and Madagascar to its exits after selling its Nigerian business of 15 years and closing its Kenyan stores two years after entering the market.

Commenting on the exit, Peter Hirst, senior analyst at Euromonitor International, told IOL that the exit comes as footfall has decreased significantly in Shoprite outlets, with many Ugandans opting to ”buy local” in 2020, resulting in under-performance in the five outlets across the country.

“This trend benefited traditional grocery retailers, which boast lower average unit prices, providing relief to a struggling consumer base,” Hirst said.

He added that the rise of online shopping, which drove shoppers away from traditional brick-and-mortar outlets like Shoprite, and the significant costs incurred by the company to adhere to the Covid-19 pandemic might have been the final nail in the coffin.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Shoprite Finally Exits Nigeria, Sells Off Nigerian Operations

June 3, 2021

Africa’s largest retail chain Shoprite Holdings Ltd., has sold its Nigerian operations to local investors 16 years after it opened its first outlet in the continent’s most populous country.

The company sold its stake to Ketron Investment Ltd., a Nigerian company owned by a group of local investors led by property firm Persianas Investment Ltd., Ketron said in an emailed statement.

Shoprite is changing its strategy “from an ownership model to a franchise model,” Ketron said. The acquisition has been approved by Nigeria’s federal competition and consumer protection commission.

With the sale, Shoprite became the latest South African business to exit the West African nation in the last decade. The retailer operated 25 outlets in eight states across Africa’s biggest economy but had been struggling with disruptions. Ketron said it plans to keep open new ones and display more Nigerian-made products.

“We look forward to building an even stronger company following our acquisition,” said Tayo Amusan, Ketron’s chairman.

Shoprite, which operates 2,843 supermarkets in 15 countries, serving 35 million customers in Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands, has struggled with supply-chain disruptions and repatriation of funds — both familiar problems to foreign businesses in the Nigerian market.

Such logjams prompted other South African retailers including Woolworths Holdings Ltd., Truworths International Ltd. and Mr Price Group Ltd. to quit Nigeria.

KPMG Advisory Services, MBO Capital and law firm Banwo and Ighodalo advised Ketron on the deal, according to the statement.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Why Shoprite/Checkers Group Dumped TRESemmé brand

September 12, 2020

Evidence has emerged on the reasons behind the termination of the relationship between Shoprite/Checkers Group and Unilever’s TRESemmé brand leading to the ongoing removal of the products from their almost 3000 stores on the African continent. The controversy made the news during the week when a spokesperson for the Shoprite/Checkers Group said: “We can confirm that TRESemmé products have been removed from sale in our stores”.

The Shoprite Group, which owns stores such as Checkers, Checkers Hyper, Shoprite and the U-Save brands, is the second group after the Clicks Group earlier made a similar announcement that it was dumping the TRESemmé and replacing it with local haircare products. This comes after a TRESemmé advert on the Clicks website depicted black women’s hair as frizzy, dull, dry and damaged, while it described white hair as normal, fine and flat.

The ad spurred the EFF to descend on hundreds of Clicks stores around the country in protest and on Wednesday, Clicks stores around the country were shut to allow workers counseling after some had allegedly been intimidated during protests. Clicks also secured an interim court interdict which prevented the EFF from threatening or intimidating Clicks staff and customers. The interdict allows for peaceful protest.

Clicks has also committed to work with the government to develop the local beauty market. An unnamed senior executive at Clicks is said to have resigned, while non-executive director Nonkululeko Gobodo, called on the company to name the senior executive and also implored Unilever to name the ad agency and TRESemmé executives who were responsible for the ad which has had damaging consequences for several brands – not least Clicks, TRESemmé and Unilever.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

South Africa’s Shoprite Joins Business With Equities Property Fund

February 25, 2020

Barely a few months after South Africa’s Starbucks sold its stakes to Taste Holdings, South Africa’s Shoprite Holdings appears to be following the same route. Shoprite will transfer its distribution centres and undeveloped land valued at 2 billion rand (€120 million) to a new joint venture (JV) it is creating with Equities Property Fund, the supermarket chain has said.

“The joint venture company will manage the portfolio and it will serve as a platform for the future development of the undeveloped land situated at Cilmor and Centurion and for possible future property acquisition and development opportunities,” Shoprite said.

Here Is All You Need To Know

Shoprite has more than 2,800 stores across Africa and has said it wants to divest some real estate to help its balance sheet.

Shoprite Checkers will contribute a portfolio of distribution centres and associated undeveloped land in Brackenfell in the Western Cape and Centurion in Gauteng into the joint venture.

Equities will inject cash of 2.1 billion rand in exchange for a 50.1% equity stake in the joint venture, the retailer said.

Thereafter, the joint venture will acquire Shoprite’s Cilmor distribution centre in Cape Town and associated undeveloped land for a cash amount of 1.2 billion rand.

Shoprite Holdings data for the year-ended 30 June 2019

A Struggling Company In The Aftermath Of Xenophobic Attacks In 2019

The owner of Checkers and Usave retail chains said it is battling with currency devaluations in Angola, Zambia and Nigeria.

It said store closures in Nigeria and subsequent reduction in customer count, both during and after the September attacks on foreigners, “resulted in a difficult half with sales declining by 8.1% in constant currency terms”.

Earnings fell short of the 463 cents per share expected by analysts, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.

Trading profit at its African operations plunged 62.3% on a 68 million rand fall in interest income earned on government bonds and bills.

This was mainly due to Angola Treasury Bills that reached maturity during the reporting period, it added.

Overall group sales rose 7% to 81.2 billion rand (€4.95 billion). The group’s core business, Supermarkets South Africa, was the star performer.

Sales rose by 9.8% on an overall basis and 6.6% on a like-for-like basis, boosted by liquor sales and its strategy to grow its share of spend in the mid-to-upper segment of the market under its Checkers brand.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer.
He could be contacted at udohrapulu@gmail.com