The short version: Shoprite to buy independent liquor business | Checkers’ next collection is here | Awards night for Sixty60 drivers
Shoprite always seems to be in the news, and makes no exception during this shorter week either. We kick off with this: The Group has been given the green light by the Competition Commission to acquire 34 strangely capitalised PicardiReBEL liquor stores, one of which is a wholesaler. Now we await the decision of the Competition Tribunal, which will most likely allow the transaction to go ahead subject to its usual condition or two.

Next, brace yourselves, parents and teachers of young primary school children – Checkers’ annual collectable mayhem is back. This year, the retailer has kept things relatively simple, introducing what it is calling “Stickables”, i.e. 50 colourful stickers with “special effects” (strobe lights, perhaps?), featuring some of South Africa’s most recognisable brands, like the Duracell Bunny, Oros, Bar-One, Ricoffy and Sunshine D. If we had to hazard a guess, the mini Sixty60 delivery bike will be the most sought-after sticker, with kids scrambling to get their hands on one to complete their specially created Sticker Books. “So much nostalgia. 10 out of 10 to Checkers for this,” we overheard one of our colleagues say at the water cooler. Maybe it will be the moms falling over each other to collect them all, quietly indulging their inner ‘90s child.

And in closing, let us take a moment, as Pingo did last week, to recognise the hard work performed by our intrepid Sixty60 drivers, who work so hard to deliver our groceries within 60 minutes through heat, rain, wind and potholed South African roads. The Pingo Driver Recognition Awards celebrate standout driver partners and operational teams, with the fourth annual edition bringing together 37 nominees from across SA, who were flown to Cape Town to attend the event. There are too many winners to mention, but some standout performances included those from 21-year-old Wayne Van Wyk based in Shoprite Belhar, Cape Town, who completed 96.7% of his 10,974 deliveries on time. And what about Monsuru Oshineye, who, at 50 years of age, holds the distinction of being the network’s highest-performing driver, having completed 17,304 deliveries since joining Pingo in 2023. Based at Checkers Kuruman in the Northern Cape, he has maintained a 99.09% on-time delivery rate.

The short version: Pick n Pay appoints CEO designate | Clicks partners with 3 major banks | How is Walmart doing in SA?
Big news from Pick n Pay is that the team has already chosen its future CEO, Mr Spencer Sonn, who joins The Big Blue after 26 years at our poshest retailer, Woolworths. During his time there, Sonn spent five years as MD of the Food division, and brings with him experience across both operations and executive leadership. Sonn will join Pick n Pay in February next year, giving him plenty of time to work alongside Sean Summers until Summers’ contract expires in May 2028. “I am looking forward to working closely with Sean,” said Sonn.

Next, building on its longstanding partnership with FNB eBucks, Clicks has announced that it will also welcome Absa Rewards and Standard Bank UCount Rewards into its loyalty ecosystem, creating one of SA’s most extensive loyalty networks. FNB eBucks customers will be pleased to learn that their benefits have been enhanced, allowing them to get up to 50% back in eBucks on selected products. Meanwhile, eligible Absa Rewards and Standard Bank UCount Rewards members can earn up to 30% back on their full basket. Another innovation is Clicks’ new gamified ClubCard platform, where members can earn coins by participating in various activities and use them to access partner rewards, with more than R10m in lifestyle vouchers available. “As consumers increasingly seek smarter ways to stretch their budgets, we are redefining how loyalty works by connecting value across everyday shopping, banking and lifestyle experiences,” explained Bongiwe Ntuli, Clicks Group Executive: Retail.

How are SA’s Walmart stores doing? Well, according to SA Corporate Real Estate, the owner of the East Point Shopping Centre where Walmart’s third SA store opened in March this year, it “has already outperformed the Game store it replaced”, achieving a trading density 28.7% higher than Game. In other words, Walmart made nearly 29% more money out of every square metre of the shop floor than Game. It was thought that East Point would kickstart an accelerated roll-out of Walmart stores across the country, although none have come to fruition, as yet, and the retailer is being pretty mum about things. Maybe 2027 will be the year. 

And finally, in a recent interview, Dis-Chem co-founder and former CEO, Ivan Salzman, had a rather peculiar thing to say about the bodybuilders who helped the retailer establish itself at the go-to store for sports supplementation – see our Weekly Guru below. While recognising that they played an important role in, ahem, building the credibility of the products, Salzman conceded that they perhaps were not the best of salespeople. It could have been worded a little more diplomatically, sir. We wouldn’t want to meet any of those guys in a dark alley right now.