An update from Clicks for the first 20 weeks of its 2026 financial year (including Black Friday, the festive season and 11 days of Jan) is showing some chinks in what is usually almost impenetrable armour.

• • Group turnover up +7.4%, and while still good, it was lower than last year (8.1%) 
  • Pharmacy was described as “strong”, at +9% turnover growth
  • Retail (including Clicks, UniCare, The Body Shop and Sorbet) grew +6.0%, although comparable store and volumes increased at lower rates versus last year. This is due, in part, to what the Group has described as “aggressive competitor discounting activity over the festive trading period”. Could Dis-Chem’s Better Rewards, launched in October, have played a role in this? Perhaps… although the retailer also mentioned that delays in implementing its warehouse management system at the Cape Town DC resulted in lower product availability in Western Cape stores, with the impact estimated at R120m in lost sales
  • But it was in the Group’s Distribution arm (UPD) where performance was mixed. While wholesale turnover grew by +11.4%, driven by higher purchasing compliance and new Clicks store openings, the division was hit by the non-renewal of two major bulk distribution contracts at the end of FY2025. This caused notional turnover (i.e. the value of products Clicks handles for third-party clients) to plunge by 20.2%. Because the drop was so steep, it dragged total managed turnover (the combined value of goods UPD owns and sells + the goods it simply distributes for others) down by 0.2% overall

Another trading update, this time from Woolworths, for the 26 weeks to 28 December. 

• • Group turnover and concession sales grew +5.4% (6.1% on constant currency terms)
  • Woolworths SA turnover +6.8%
  • Food grew +7% (5.2% on a like-store basis, i.e. excluding new stores), with Woolies Dash doing rather well for itself, growing +23.0% and contributing 7.2% to SA Food sales. Dash’s contribution to total food sales has nearly doubled over the last two years
  • Fashion, Beauty and Home (FBH) grew +6.2% (6.4% for like-stores), helped along by improved product availability, a sign that WW’s value chain transformation efforts are paying off
  • Beauty and Home showed excellent growth, at 8.9% and 14.0% respectively

And finally, the Group can be very pleased with the numbers coming from Downunder, where Country Road Group (CRG) sales increased by +2.3% after its negative result at the end of FY2025

We don’t often report on the furniture game, but this one is a biggie, so here we are. Lewis Group has won the right to intervene in Pepkor’s proposed R3.2bn purchase of Shoprite’s furniture business. The ruling, handed down by the Constitutional Court, does not give Lewis the power to stop the transaction, but it does allow the 92-year-old furniture group to participate in the proceedings before the Competition Tribunal to argue why the merger should be prohibited on anti-competitive grounds. A delay for the merging parties, and a small victory for Lewis.

Next, we’ve heard stories of kids at our schools, especially those that offer boarding, using various on-demand grocery services to have snacks delivered to them. Now Woolies has literally managed to get its feet through the school gate. Parents at a Curro school in the Western Cape were recently informed that the school will be housing a Woolworths tuckshop. The tuckshop is cashless and operated by Woolies staff, offering a range of age-appropriate healthy snacks. This is the second school in Cape Town with a Woolies tuckshop. Fancy hey… and a great way to catch ‘em young, Woolies.

Ever wished there was a way to compare product prices across retailers quickly and easily? We have, and someone must have heard us because it’s happening. Thanks to a soon-to-be-released app called Grocify, South African shoppers will be able to compare prices across Checkers, Pick n Pay, SPAR and Woolworths, without having to go into their individual apps and websites. Grocify will pull product pricing and specials on a per-store basis where possible, so users see real-time local pricing rather than generic national promotions. The app is expected to launch by the end of Feb.

And in closing, congratulations to KasiD, that innovative township food delivery service, which is now partnering with Uber Direct. Through the partnership, users still use the KasiD app or website (and not an Uber platform) to order meals and products directly from local, township-born businesses. The delivery request is then fulfilled by Uber’s courier network, giving small township eateries access to a world-class delivery service. Nice work.

After reporting last week that Amazon is testing 30-minute delivery in the UK, the retail giant has now announced that it is packing in its physical store formats, Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh. Launched in 2018 and 2020, respectively, the formats haven’t been able to create a “truly distinctive customer experience with the right economic model”, says Amazon. Various locations will be converted into Whole Foods Market stores, with the final day of operation for most set for 1 February.

We remain with Amazon, where, according to research outfit, Intelligence Node (cool name BTW), users searched more, and in some categories much more, for non-branded goods than branded goods last year. In pantry staples, for example, which are generally considered a low-risk purchase, share of searches came out at 97% for non-branded goods vs 3% for branded goods. What about snacks and sweets? 28% branded vs 72% non branded. Or feminine care, a traditionally brand-loyal category? 27% branded versus 73% non-branded. Only one category saw branded searches trumping non-branded searches. Anyone willing to hazard a guess? Well, you’re wrong. It’s cat food. Because our feline overlords secretly rule the world.

And finally, a new initiative by Dutch think-tank Questionmark and civil society partners has ranked 27 European supermarkets according to their sustainability efforts. More specifically, the businesses were rated on their efforts to align climate plans with the Paris Agreement and rebalance protein sales toward plant-rich diets. Lidl dominated the rankings, with Lidl Netherlands coming first, followed by Lidl Poland (2nd), Dutch chains Albert Heijn (3rd) and Jumbo (4th), and then Lidl once again, with its German and Spanish businesses placing 5th and 6th.