Online sales are booming at South African supermarket chain Shoprite Holdings, which also owns the Checkers chain of supermarkets.
Shoprite on Tuesday published a trading update for the six months to June 2019 showing online sales, which includes Click & Collect orders and its on-demand liquor home delivery partnership has swelled 386% with rapid customer acceptance.
Excluding hyperinflation, Africa’s biggest retailer Shoprite reported a 3.2% (0.1% like for like) increase in turnover to R150.6 billion in the period to June 2019.
Shoprite’s supermarkets increased the number of customers served by 2.3% and product volumes sold by 1.2%. Including the impact of the Angolan hyperinflation accounting adjustment, the retailer turnover increased by 3.6% for the full year.
The retailer is valued at more than R86 billion in market capitalisation with over 146 000 employees, thousands of stores and a network of distribution centres across 15 countries.
“The group’s expansion remains on track with 80 new supermarkets opened in the period and 88 planned for the next year,” said Pieter Engelbrecht, CEO of Shoprite.
“The Shoprite team is making headway in all of our strategic areas of focus; including advancing our digital transformation agenda, growing Checkers’ share of premium food retail, building a better franchise offer and increasing our private label penetration. Ultimately these have all laid a stronger foundation for growth in the medium term.”
