Retail news. August 2013 Zimbabwe internet mobile phone traffic tops sunday mail. Saturday, 21 July 2012 Business Editor
Bricks, mortar still important in shopping choice
Yüklə 362,69 Kb.
|
- Bu səhifədəki naviqasiya:
- Store shopping still important
- Clothing retailers eye expansion.
- Best Retail Brands - Walmart in a class of its own.
- - Valuable retail brands monitor customers changing needs.
- - Leaders build a culture of efficient decision-making.
- - Its understood that experience extends beyond the store.
- - The best continuously optimise, scale and measure.
- Top 20 Most Valuable US Retail Brands for 2013
- Annual online shopping survey reveals SAs festive wishes.
- OK Zimbabwe sales up 5,1 percent.
- Report by Tarisai Mandizha
Bricks, mortar still important in shopping choice. 24 Apr 2013 Late last year, research conducted by Cisco Systems predicted that global e-commerce would increase 13.5% annually over the next three years to reach an estimated $1.4 trillion in 2015 and, with rapid adoption of smartphones and tablets, anytime, anywhere virtual store browsing is playing a significant part in consumers' changing shopping habits. In South Africa, where broadband internet penetration is still low - with approximately 6.8 million people connecting to the Internet via desktops and laptops - almost triple that amount, 16.8 million, are reportedly accessing the web via mobile devices. However, this is not necessarily translating into more e-commerce sales locally, since a large number of consumers now make use of multiple channels to shop. "Many shoppers in South Africa access retailers' online stores on their desktops, laptops or mobile devices merely to compare and look up prices and specs for specific products and then still go to the brick and mortar shop to make the purchase," explains Simon Campbell-Young, CEO of Phoenix Distribution, a South African-based distributor of software and technology brands. "There are various reasons for this: many people still distrust the security of making online transactions. However, even those who are not sceptical about paying online are often put off by the time it will take to have the product delivered to them and the cost in delivery fees. The postal service in South Africa is often criticised as being too slow and unreliable. Courier services, while faster, are too pricey to be a viable delivery option." Omni-channel retailing This evolving nature of buying, in which consumers are embracing digital technologies and devices in all stages of their shopping experience, has given birth to a new trend called omni-channel retailing. "This new buzz term describes the approach of connecting the web, mobile and brick-and-mortar to make for a seamless customer experience," continues Campbell-Young. "It is the process of building a bridge between online and offline shopping. Brands have to do this in order to remain competitive. For example, brick and mortar shops can become more digital by using QR codes to provide more information about products. Some retailers already allow customers to browse in-store merchandise and then skip the checkout queues by paying for it online on in-store tablets. From their end, online shops can encourage sales with a 'click and brick' approach, allowing users to make the purchase online and then pick up the order in store."
The continuing importance of physical shops, where you have to jostle with crowds and stand in line at the cashier, in an increasingly virtual world was highlighted in a recent survey by UK-based Shoppercentric, called 'Shopping in a Multichannel World'. It found that 87% of respondents are still using a store as part of their purchasing journey and 45% of shoppers said that they will "always love going to the shops, no matter what new technologies are available." Campbell-Young says that this convergence of online/offline shopping is going to benefit everyone along the retail channel and that it makes the relationship between suppliers and retailers more crucial than ever before. "Retailers need to keep in mind that this new breed of omni-channel consumer is sophisticated and informed. They are going to have to anticipate the needs of their shoppers and see to it that the product they are searching for online is also in store. These shoppers have no patience with out of stock products or late deliveries. It will definitely be challenging at times, but beneficial to everyone." 
Clothing retailers eye expansion. By: Zeenat Moorad. 24 Feb 2012 Listed retailer Truworths (TRU) will open 19 stores in the second half of the 2012 financial period, it said on Thursday, 23 February. This comes at a time when consumer spending is expected to be stifled amid subdued economic growth and an increase in electricity and fuel prices. The group, which sells Truworths, Daniel Hechter, LTD and Ginger Mary clothing lines, announced that it would open 13 stores in SA and six in the rest of Africa. "Capital expenditure of R132 million has been committed for the remainder of the 2012 financial period," the retailer noted. On Thursday, Truworths booked a 14% increase in first half profits, as it grew its customer base and increased market share. It said group retail sales increased 10.7% to R4.8 billion for the period, and comparable store retail sales grew 6.2%, while product inflation averaged 8%. Based on figures from the retail liaison committee (RLC), Truworths' ladieswear clothing market share increased from 22.2% to 22.6% at December 2011 and its menswear market share grew from 21.7% to 22%. Edcon, SA's biggest clothing retailer said it was also looking to accelerate its space growth. "Within SA we're targeting close to 5% in the next year and in the next couple of years per annum too. "We opened in Zambia recently and we're evaluating other countries in Africa," CFO Steve Binnie told I-Net Bridge/BusinessLIVE. On Thursday, the company said total retail sales advanced 12.3% for the quarter ended December 31 2011. Same stores sales rose 10.5%. "We're very pleased that we were able to gain some market share in the quarter," Binnie said. Once known as the retail jewel of SA, Edcon was de-listed from the JSE in 2007 when its shareholders voted in favour of US group Bain Capital's R25 billion takeover bid - one of the biggest private equity deals to take place in SA. Over the quarter, the company's Edgars Department Stores division, which includes Edgars, Boardmans and Red Square, increased retail sales by 13%, mainly due to strong growth from cellular products, childrenswear and footwear. Edcon said the number of active accounts for the third quarter was 3.9 million compared with 3.8 million in the year before. Truworths' active account base grew 14% to approximately 2.4 million accounts, in the 26 weeks to end December. With the opening of Spain's Zara, owned by Inditex, the world's biggest fashion retailer opening its doors in SA late last year, local players are smarting up and streamlining supply chain. Much like the arrival of US powerhouse Wal-Mart, Zara's arrival has been touted as a game changer for the local industry. Last week upmarket rival Woolworths (WHL) said it would beef up its clothing business after a disappointing performance in the first half. "If you look at clothing overall, we were slightly behind the market and that was driven by women's wear where we were also behind the market, and that's what we need to fix," CEO Ian Moir said, adding that some categories within clothing like kids wear, women's accessories and lingerie did trade well. Woolworths clothing sales including Country Road's South African operations grew 11.2%, with sales in comparable stores up 5.9% in the 26 weeks to December period. "We traded sort of where Truworths did, but not as well as The Foschini Group and we did a bit better than Edgars did," Moir said. He pointed to a shortened merchandise cycle, as one remedy. "We want to get more newness, more often - you can't, as a business, do six week drops anymore, back in the good old days that was fine, but not anymore, when you've got competition like Zara and The Foschini Group who are doing a good job on fashion. "So every two weeks we now drop fashion, it started in late November and we've seen lifts in performance," Moir commented. Likewise, Binnie said Edcon was focused on being more "responsive". "There are initiatives underway to shortening our cycle," he noted. Mark Richard Bower will take over as Edcon's CFO from 1 July. Binnie succeeds Sappi's Mark Thompson as CFO on 9 July. 
Best Retail Brands - Walmart in a class of its own. Issued by: Interbrand Sampson 20 Mar 2013 Yesterday in New York, Interbrand announced its global rankings of the Best Retail Brands.
Yet again Walmart dominates with a value of $141 billion (R1.300 billion), enough to gobble up most, if not all, of the JSE! Now very active in South Africa and increasingly Africa, through Massmart (Game, Makro, Dion, Builders Warehouse etc.). Reading through the ratings, it is surprising that apart from Walmart none are active in Africa e.g., after Walmart comes Target ($25m), The Home Depot ($23m), Amazon.com ($18.6m), although the latter is of course global. In the UK Tesco ($10.8m) dominates, followed by Marks & Spencer ($6.5m), Boots ($3.3m). In France it's Carrefour ($10.3m), Germany: Aldi ($2.9m) and Australia: Woolworths (no relation to South Africa) ($4.6m). While consumer confidence continues to ebb and flow, energy abounds in the US retail sector. The total brand value of this year's top 50 brands is up 1.8%. Of the brands that are on the list again this year, 36 of them increased brand value while only 11 declined. The average brand on the list increased its value by over 6%, up from 4% in 2012. The threshold to earn a spot on the US ranking has increased to US$836 million; last year it took a brand value of US$771 million to make the top 50. The South African retail scene has shown considerable change of late. Shoprite continues to power ahead, Massmart is now majority owned by Walmart, whilst Woolworths, Mr Price and Clicks have all shown strong growth. Brands that are struggling include Pick n Pay and Edgars. Digital offerings are gaining in importance with Kalahari leading the way. From a branding perspective there is much local fragmentation and huge potential for consolidation. Amazon.com's rapid climb from number 9 in 2012 to number 4 in 2013 is further proof that South African retailers must offer a sophisticated e-commerce model in order to compete on a global scale. Each year, Interbrand studies what makes retail brands successful and documents their challenges. The brands that succeed amongst the tumultuous backdrop of the retail industry have four things in common: - Valuable retail brands monitor customer's changing needs. In the race for relevance that is, providing customers with a reason to choose a brand - the strongest relentlessly pursue knowledge about their consumers and incorporate those insights into their everyday behavior. With economic power distributed across an ever-growing portfolio of touchpoints, customers - not the brands themselves - set the rules of engagement. - Leaders build a culture of efficient decision-making. The pace of retail and customer expectations around speed continues to increase. To respond, executives need to build cultures, processes and systems that enable quick decisions. This isn't just about assortment adjustments. It's about organisational commitment to moving at the speed of the retail world to remain competitive. - It's understood that experience extends beyond the store. Even the definition of retail is changing. "Retail" no longer refers to physical stores; it refers to the complete experience to products. Retailers witnessing big gains this year have committed to this holistic view of experience. Rather than antiquated methods of maximising stores at the expense of other channels, top brands think in terms of groups of touchpoints and the optimisation of experience. - The best continuously optimise, scale and measure. The need to move quickly can pressure retail leaders to abandon their commitment to the tasks aligned with optimisation, scaling and measurement. Many do achieve top speed, as the industry demands, where it becomes challenging to evaluate on the fly. Across the top retailers, commitment to ongoing, meaningful measurement and refinement is clear. "Outstanding retail brands, such as those on our list, are marked by their ability to transform the ordinary into the desirable", says Jez Frampton, Interbrand's Global Chief Executive Officer. "It is these exceptional brands that start new conversations, innovate new models and inspire us all to participate in the cultural experience we call shopping. Congratulations to this year's Best Retail Brands - we can't wait to see what's (Quite literally) in store in the year ahead". Comment by Douglass de Villiers, Group CEO at InterbrandSampson: "Africa as a retail space, with six of the top ten fastest growing global economies, is ripe for development and a mouth watering prospect for all those in mature and stagnant markets. Now is the time to take bold moves towards becoming global contenders". Top 20 Most Valuable US Retail Brands for 2013
About Interbrand Founded in 1974, Interbrand is one of the world's largest branding consultancies. With nearly 40 offices in 27 countries, Interbrand's combination of rigorous strategy, analytics and world-class design enables it to assist clients in creating and managing brand value effectively across all touchpoints in all market dynamics. Interbrand is widely recognised for its Best Global Brands report, the definitive guide to the world's most valuable brands, as well as its Best Global Brands report, which identifies the gap between customer perception and a brand's performance relative to sustainability. It is also known for having created Brandchannel.com, the award winning resource for brand marketing. For more information on Interbrand, visit Interbrand.com. About InterbrandSampson Based in Johannesburg, with offices in Accra, Gaborone, Lagos and Nairobi, we act as a hub for Africa. Working in close partnership with our clients we combine the rigorous strategy and analysis of brand consulting with world-class design and creativity. This reach enables us to conduct global research, investigate emerging trends, introduce brands across markets, and better service our clients where they want to do business. Interbrand Sampson has won FinWeek's AdReview 'Best Branding and Design Agency' in 2009 and 2010. Interbrand is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Omnicom Group, the global leader in marketing and corporate communications. 
Based in Johannesburg, with offices in Cape Town, Accra, Gaborone, Lagos and Nairobi, Interbrand Sampson acts as a hub for Africa. Increasingly, brands are becoming regional and global. Interbrand serves the world with over 40 offices in more than 25 countries. Working in close partnership with clients combining the rigorous strategy and analysis of brand consulting with world-class design and creativity. This reach enables Interbrand Sampson to conduct global research, investigate emerging trends, introduce brands across markets, and better service our clients where they want to do business. Interbrand Sampson has won FinWeek's AdReview 'Best Branding and Design Agency' in 2009 and 2010. Interbrand is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Omnicom Group, the global leader in marketing and corporate communications. 
Annual online shopping survey reveals SA's festive wishes. 16 Nov 2012 The third annual survey by kalahari.com has revealed that 92.4% of South Africa's connected shoppers will be doing their festive season shopping online this year. This is an increase of close to 5% from 2011. "Our local increase in festive season shopping is in line with that of counterparts in the US. According to Google's Retail Survey released last month, US shoppers will be spending $900 on holiday shopping this year compared to $854 in 2011; with 80% of respondents indicating that they found going online as the most useful way to get information for holiday shopping," says Liz Hillock, head of Marketing at kalahari.com. Key results:
November sales up The survey also reveals that just over 40% of South Africa's connected have already hit the e-Shelves to stock up on their festive season shopping with 33.6% of shoppers saying they intend to start their festive season shopping during the first and second weeks of December. "The trend to go shopping in November is congruous with Black Friday shopping in the late November, where shoppers officially kick off their festive season shopping in the US and more recently the UK," says Hillock. A study by IBM including 500 retailers reported that online Black Friday sales were up by 24.3% in 2011. "We are certainly seeing more shoppers forgoing the busy rush of festive shopping malls for the convenience of online shopping. Last year the annual festive season shopping survey showed that only 13% of connected shoppers elected to hit the malls for their seasonal shopping, a number, which has decreased to 9.6% this year." However, this does not mean that South Africans are not excited about the festive season. "Festive cheer is certainly on the up, with only 7.6% of shoppers saying that they pretend that festive season happens in an alternative reality; this is compared to close to 14% of the respondents from the 2011 survey who had the same sentiment. This could be a sign of a fresh economic outlook or a bolstered disposal income for shoppers." What's under the tree Electronics are still the most coveted gift by shoppers with the craze spearheaded by tablets (34.6%); followed by eReaders (13.8%) and the DStv HD PVR Decoder (13.1%). When asked which tablets they would want as a gift, shoppers gave a resounding nod to the Apple Ipad (55.5%) which was followed by the Samsung's Galaxy Tablet at 28%. "However, the bestselling device on kalahari.com remains the gobii 7"colour eReader, which plays music and video and retails at an affordable R799 with a free R160 eBook voucher," adds Hillock. Smartphones are also much desired this festive season, with the iPhone 5 being picked by the majority of shoppers (35.8%) as the hottest item they could be gifted with. Not far behind on the wish list with 30.7% is the Samsung Galaxy III, which is followed by Blackberry's 9900 with 19.6% of respondents hoping to get one for Christmas. When asked what they thought would be the best sellers for the season, the majority of respondents thought this would be tablets (35.7%), followed 30.7% saying a variety of media items such as CD's ; DVDs; Games; and books, would top the sales list. Stocking Fillers Books: This year the titles vying for best holiday reads are Jamie Oliver's 15 Minute Meals, (37.9%); fantasy drama came in second with 27% of consumers hoping to add royal betrayals and drama to their reading list with the complete box set of Game of Thrones by George R.R Martin. One of the year's most talked about books, Fifty Shades of Grey, is in third place (21.2%) as a desired read for the holidays; whilst JK Rowling's follow-up out of Hogwarts, Casual Vacancy, comes in fourth place (18.9%) as the season's literary favourite. "The difference in this year's top book favourites is that there are few local authors competing for the top position compared to last year and 2010. The local Afrikaans children's book Storieman Omnibus 1 & 2 is doing well. However, what we are not seeing is an outright winner as we did in previous years, which was driven predominantly from the sports biography genre." Toys: 25.4% of shoppers that will be buying toys for kids are opting for the timeless classic, Lego, for their children. Close to 10% of shoppers said they would buy the educational LeapPad 2 and only 6.2% of shoppers saying they would buy Barbie Dolls. DVDs: Batman beats the other action-filled titles as the most coveted holiday season DVD with The Dark Knight Rises (36.4%); followed by the cool Ice Age 4 (25.8%). The crash of superheroes in The Avengers takes third position (22.7%) as a holiday favourite followed by Peter Parker in The Amazing Spider-Man in fourth place (15.9%). CDs: With a collection of artists such as Toya Delazy, Prime Circle, Rihanna and PSY Now 62 emerged as the most desired CD with 27.1% of respondents hoping to be gifted with the album. Las Vegas rockers, The Killers, come in second (22%) with their fourth studio offering Battle Born. Sweeping into colourful third position is Taylor Swift's Red (14.7%), followed by Indie Rockers Mumford and Sons with their album Babel at 13.7%. "We will be keeping a close eye on what bestselling album for the summer will be, as over a quarter of the respondents indicated that they had 'Other' albums in mind, as the sound track this festive season." Games: Action is the name of the game this year with Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 emerging as the gaming favourite (24.7%), followed by Assassins Creed 3 at (24.2%). Kicking into third place as a contender is FIFA 13 with close to 20% of respondents scoring it as a favourite. Home and Away: When asked what type of home appliance they would most want for the festive season, respondents gave 31.5% for a coffee maker, followed by a 22.8% of respondents who wanted an ice cream maker followed by the biltong maker (10%) also voted in as firm favourite. Braaing equipment (22.6%), picnic and beach gear (21.3%) and camping gear (19%) also made the gift wish list in the tools and outdoor category.
The new kalahari.com categories including homeware, appliances and pets are doing exceptionally well and South Africans continue to take advantage of the wide range of products and cost-savings found online. "The site is also giving Santa a break this year and offering free delivery on all orders this festive season, until 31 December 2012," she concludes.
ZIMBABWE Stock Exchange (ZSE)-listed retail group OK Zimbabwe Limited has recorded a 5,1% increase in revenue to $123,1 million for the three months ending June 30, 2013, driven by cost-cutting measures and branch network expansion. Report by Tarisai Mandizha Speaking at the company annual general meeting on Friday, OK Zimbabwe chief executive officer Willard Zireva said the growth in turnover was lower as it had taken into account a gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 5%. “This was slightly below our rather aggressive budget which took into account anticipated national GDP growth of 5%. It is generally accepted that the country may actually have experienced zero growth or deflation during the period,” Zireva said. Zireva said OK Mart’s growth was slightly below the company average during the period under review due to lower liquor sales. The OK Zimbabwe boss said gross margin for the same period maintained the same level as in the comparative period last year. “Management continues to improve the margin through better sourcing,” Zireva said. Overheads were down 10% compared with the same period last year.
He said the recently announced arrangement with South African company Kawena (Private) Limited would help in bringing remittances into the formal sector. Under the deal, Zimbabweans in South Africa can purchase goods for friends and relatives back home. “The objective is to tap into the Diaspora Zimbabweans including the unbanked who have to support their relatives at home and this brings these remittances into the formal sector and helps in reducing the country’s balance of payments deficit as no forex goes out of Zimbabwe with products paid for in South Africa and received in Zimbabwe,” Zireva said. He said the company had also entered into a distributorship arrangement with blanket manufacturer, Aranda, from South Africa, adding that this would help grow the group’s revenue base. Zireva said refurbishments of outlets and other capital expenditure programmes would continue with funding coming from internal resources. He said the company had opened two new outlets in the first quarter, Wynne Street and at Chitungwiza Town centre. Refurbishments are planned for OK Waterfalls, OK Bindura, OK Houghton Park, OK Gweru and OK Mutare. Construction work of a new branch in Hwange, he said, was in progress amid expectation that the work would be completed by the end of September. 
Page of Yüklə 362,69 Kb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
|
