[imagesource: Daily Vox]

The competition for customers is cutthroat in the South African retail game, and it looks like Checkers smells blood in the water.

Woolworths’ recent results, reporting on earnings for the 26 weeks ending December 29, 2019, showed a significant drop in profit, and the retailer named power outages and unseasonal weather as reasons.

We know from Checkers’ flagship stores in Sandton and Constantia that it’s now targetting a new segment of the market, and it seems to be working.

BusinessTech reports that Shoprite’s financial results for the same 26-week period up to 29 December 2019 showed a 7% increase in sales for the period.

In a statement, Checkers said its “strategy to grow its share of spend in the mid-to-upper segment of the market continues to underpin the chain’s growth”:

Shoprite further highlighted its recent success in the premium retail market – a segment typically dominated by companies such as Woolworths.

“Our group strategy to capture a larger share of South Africa’s premium food retail segment continues to be one of our drivers of growth as reflected particularly in the Checkers brand, together with Hypers, growing sales by 11.2%,” said Pieter Engelbrecht, chief executive officer.

“It’s been an exciting six months for the Checkers brand with significant milestones reached in support of our long-term growth strategy.”

Engelbrecht said that the group has also seen success from its new rewards programme. He added that the group was pleased with its new grocery delivery service.

That service, Sixty60, promises that groceries will be delivered within an hour, although it currently operates in just eight stores.

While there are currently 28 Checkers FreshX stores across the country, that number should soon grow to 80, and it’s here that the battle with Woolies really heats up:

The concept stores were introduced by Checkers as a way for the company to gain market share among more affluent South Africans, with the idea proving so popular that the group now plans to revamp at least a third of its Checkers stores to the new look in the medium term.

Unlike traditional Checkers stores, the FreshX concept stores feature more upmarket furniture and signage – including benches and tables for customers to test samples.

You may recall that our very own Seth Rotherham took readers on a full HD video tour of the Constantia Emporium Checkers last year, while on the hunt for nappies and cotton wool balls.

My, how times have changed.

Pick n Pay is also actively dabbling in the market, so Woolies, over to you.

[source:businesstech]