Boxer has released a trading update for the 17 weeks from beginning March to end June (or thereabouts), and things are looking good. Turnover came in at +12.1% (with comparable stores up +3.9%), despite consumers still battling to make ends meet and (very) low internal selling price inflation of -0.6%. Interestingly, Boxer is now reporting what it is calling “volume-held-constant inflation”. This method of calculation reflects effective selling prices by stripping out the effect of customers buying more or less or different products… in other words, it isolates pure price changes, and is a much more accurate reflection of Boxer’s pricing power and the impact of inflation on its core offering due to its limited range. Looking to the rest of the financial year, Boxer remains confident that it is on track to meet its projected turnover growth (in the low-teens) thanks to the performance of its existing stores and its store roll-out plan. Boxer has already opened 7 Superstores and 10 liquor stores during the first four months of FY2026, with plans to reach 60 (25 superstores and 35 liquor stores) by financial year end.

Your 30s are the best years of your life, or that’s what mum told us, anyway. Which means that Clicks ClubCard, now celebrating its 30th birthday, has a humdinger of a time to look forward to! Launched in 1995, ClubCard was the first retail loyalty programme in the Beloved Country, and when introduced at a single Cape Town store, 13,000 customers signed up on day one. Within two years, membership reached 1.3 million, and now the count stands at 13 million active members. It has paid out more than R7.5bn in cashback over its three decades of existence, R780m of which was during 2024 alone. With an 80% usage rate among economically active consumers, it has become a powerful growth driver for Clicks. “ClubCard’s success lies in its simplicity, accessibility, easily redeemable rewards, relevance and differentiated position,” says Dr Melanie van Rooy, Chief Marketing Officer at Clicks. To celebrate, Clicks is offering members a chance to win a share of R500,000 in cashback, up to 40% off ClubCard-only deals, and personalised offers.

Pick n Pay Mobile is ramping up its service by introducing a new mobile app which incorporates features such as instant eSIM activation and the ability for users to self-RICA, meaning no physical SIM or store visit required. Since launch in 2020 (where it became SA’s first Retail Mobile Network Operator (MVNO) with MTN), Pick n Pay Mobile has been giving users free rewards linked to the Smart Shopper loyalty programme. The new app also allows users to create their own mobile plan, selecting how much data, talk minutes, and SMSs they want. These plans are valid for 30 days and automatically renew unless cancelled. Next up, big news from Woolworths is that over 24,000 of its frontline staff in its stores and DCs will now have access to health insurance for the first time. Facilitated through Momentum’s Health4Me Gold programme, the plan includes access to GPs, dentists, optometrists, and medication, and builds on Woolworths’ “Just Wage Initiative”, a R120m investment introduced in 2019 that has since been increasing frontline employees’ pay to well above the retail sector’s legislated minimum. And finally, Checkers has opened yet another of its ‘mini-malls’ at the Groot Phesantekraal View shopping centre in Durbanville (CT), bringing a Checkers supermarket, Checkers Little Me, Checkers Outdoor, Petshop Science and a UNIQ clothing by Checkers (all within metres of each other) to the lovely people there, creating 146 new job opportunities for the local community in the process.

In news from over the seas, we start with Carrefour, Europe’s biggest food retailer, which has agreed to sell its loss-making Italian unit to NewPrinces Group for approximately €1bn. NewPrinces is a rapidly growing Italian agro-food group, whose core business until now has been food and drink manufacturing and distribution. With the acquisition of Italy’s Carrefour, it will now be extending directly into food retail.  Carrefour Italia, which operates 1,188 stores, made a €67m operating loss last year, and has been consistently unprofitable over the medium term. Following a strategic review early this year, Carrefour announced that it would concentrate its efforts and investments on its stronger-performing markets, particularly in France, Spain, and Brazil, where it sees better growth prospects and competitive positions. Moving across the Italian border to Austria now, we introduce you to Tally (see pics here), an inventory robot being trialled by SPAR Austria. The two-metre tall robot moves around the store on its own, scanning shelves to identify empty spots and sends detailed stock reports to employees via email. This initiative, says SPAR, aims to reduce employee workload, allowing them to focus more on helping customers. The trial, which started at the beginning of July, will last five months. Will we be seeing more Tallys in future? All depends on how Tally v1 performs.