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The modern, connected economy Underwhelming financial results from traditional retailers indicate that customers are spending elsewhere. I recently met with Catharina Eklof, SVP Global Merchant Development and Victor de Kock, Strategic Merchants and Acceptance at Mastercard to discuss some of the emerging trends in merchant payments, the changing shopping environment and how the financial services company is innovating to address the needs of the ‘connected customer'. As shopping habits change, Julia Ahlfeldt suggests traditional retailers develop strategies that embrace digital as the touchpoint of choice and focus more on what their customers want in-store, which is experience, convenience, integration and personalisation. Gareth Pearson, CEO of BMi Research, agrees. He says local consumers are undergoing fundamental behavioural shifts in the way they shop – before, during and after they hit the stores. A Nielsen survey, which polled online consumers across 63 countries, shows that South Africans are outpacing other countries in terms of online mobile adoption. "Mobile commerce has enormous implications for the entire retail ecosystem," says Nielsen SA country head Bryan Sun. He says mobile devices are enabling a more customised experience, as products and services can be more closely tailored to behaviours, needs and preferences, Colleen Goko reports. Reitumetse Pitso says that while some retailers performed better than expected in their efforts to accelerate sales during the festive season, others delivered a ‘mixed bag'. And according to Amanda Stops, CEO of South African Council of Shopping Centres, retail success has become about constantly evolving to adapt, remain relevant and be appealing to customers. As an endnote, I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce Lauren Hartzenberg, the new Retail Editor effective Wednesday, 1 February, as I succeed Beverley Klein as Editor: Marketing & Media. Due to the industry overlap, I'm sure this won't be the last time you'll be hearing from me. Stay connected now... Comment online in our ed's column archive. Go mobile with apps and m.bizcommunity.com. Engage with us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+. Subscribe to YouTube and via RSS. Send all your retail news and event invitations to retailnews@bizcommunity.com, exclusive opinion pieces to contributors-retail@bizcommunity.com and international news to internationalnews@bizcommunity.com. Read "How to contribute to Biz, from op-ed pieces to news". | Weekly top stories |
Julia Ahlfeldt Poor performance over the festive season suggests shoppers are spending elsewhere... Read | Colleen Goko Faster, cheaper and more convenient online alternatives stalk traditional retail sector... Read | Reitumetse Pitso Although local retailers used the Black Friday phenomenon and rigorous promotions as best they could, the result was somewhat disappointing... Read |
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| | |  | Jessica Tennant I recently met with Catharina Eklof, SVP Global Merchant Development and Victor de Kock, Strategic Merchants and Acceptance at Mastercard to discuss some of the emerging trends in merchant payments, the changing shopping environment and how the financial services company is innovating to address the needs of the ‘connected customer'... read | |  | Amanda Stops Retail success has become about constantly evolving to adapt, remain relevant and be appealing to customers. It's more competitive than ever before, which is driving exciting trends and innovation for shopping centres and retail... read | |  | Gareth Pearson Think you know South African shoppers? Think again. Recent shopper insights* research reveals local consumers have changed. A lot. And this radically redefined identity is tipped to gain significant momentum in 2017... read | |  | Gaopaleloe Mothoagae Sustainability is the ultimate long-term goal of any company, which allows it to contribute to the development of the country where it operates. It is no longer merely about profitability, but a phenomenon that must support the goals of a company through the triple context of its social, environmental and economic aspects... read | |
More trends... | | |
 | Stafford Thomas Despite a tough local market, Shoprite has edged its rivals and its rest of Africa play is going swimmingly... read | |  | Matthew Stevens The Lewis Group, of which Lewis Stores is a subsidiary, reported a drop in revenue for the third quarter, and nine months ended 2016... read | |  | The Consumer Goods Council of SA is cautiously optimistic about an improved trading outlook in the consumer goods sector during 2017 despite tight household budgets and muted economic growth prospects... read | |  | Maarten Mittner The JSE opened marginally higher on Tuesday in lacklustre trade ahead of the Reserve Bank's interest rate decision later in the day... read | |  | Ann Crotty AB InBev stresses the voluntary severance targeting management will not interfere with commitments on post-merger employment... read | | |
 | The expansion of Ballito Junction Regional Mall will see the centre increase eightfold from 10,000sqm to 80,000sqm offering over 200 shops, restaurants and services... read | | |
 | Having launched in Johannesburg four months ago, UberEATS, an on-demand food delivery app powered by Uber, will start serving Cape Town. read | |  | Cybercellar, the online beverage company, has opened its first bricks and mortar store in Woodstock, Cape Town... read | |  | Ringier Africa has extended its activities in publishing and e-commerce in Africa by launching Pulse and P Live in East Africa, following its success in West Africa, which reached over 50m users on a monthly basis... read | | |
 | The Trade Intelligence Independent Trade Forum (ITF), being held on 23 February 2017 at the Focus Rooms, Sunninghill Sandton, will feature Gill Mkhasibe, MD and co-owner of The Mkhasibe Group (TMG), who will answer ‘How is your brand purchased in the informal trade?' read | | |
 | Maroefah Smith In the past few years, the world's runways, beauty pageants and even the digital space have seen more and more women opting to go modest... read | | |
 | Ann Crotty AB InBev is allowed to offer certain employees severance packages, though the two firms may not now retrench staff... read | |  | Despite Ficksburg's reputation as South Africa's cherry capital, Ceres is increasingly getting a bigger piece or the cherry pie... read | |  | At the World Cheese Awards, held in San Sebastián in Northern Spain on 16 November, Fairview took home three international awards for its artisanal cheese... read | |  | Matthew Stevens Fast-moving consumer goods group AVI expects its headline earnings per share for the six months to end-December to have grown by up to 9% despite difficult trading conditions... read | |  | A farmers' association says the impact of last year's drought will be felt by consumers until at least the end of this year... read | | |
 | Colleen Goko Spur Corporation gave a credible performance in the first half of its financial year, but its franchise, RocoMamas, sizzled in the period, growing existing restaurant sales by 45%... read | |  | Robert Laing Restaurant franchisor Spur's share price gained nearly 5% on Thursday after it reported sales of R3.8bn for the six months to end-December, 8.6% higher than the matching period's R3.5bn... read | |  | In addition to the franchisor's marketing efforts, success comes when a franchisee markets his or her business among the local community and success or failure of retail franchises primarily depends upon such local marketing initiatives... read | | |
 | Wayne Martindale Beef from Brazil, avocados from Mexico, lamb from New Zealand, wines from South Africa and green beans from Kenya – food shopping lists have a distinctly international flavour... read | | |
 | Issued by Insight Survey Insight Survey's latest SA Vitamins and Supplements Landscape Report 2017 carefully unfolds the global and local Vitamins and Supplements markets based on the latest information and research... read | | |
 | Kevin Bierman, Issued by Moving Tactics Moving Tactics highlights five technology must-haves to keep in mind when discussing the creation of and operational efficiency of a digital signage system... read | | Issued by Global Access | | |
 | Palesa Vuyolwethu Tshandu Promotional activity during Christmas drove consumer spending at beauty and health-care retailer Clicks, despite aggressive discounting elsewhere in the retail sector... read | |  | Ann Crotty The Lewis share price held up reasonably well on Wednesday despite the release of yet another grim trading update from a major retail group... read | |  | Robert Laing Clicks enjoyed faster retail sales growth this Christmas than in 2015, it said in a trading update on Thursday morning... read | |  | A new food and product market will trade seven days a week in Regent Road in Sea Point, Cape Town. It will offer a hybrid mix of 40 designer retail stalls, a daily fresh goods market, a diverse weekly market, 15 food vendors, 3 bars and a live entertainment stage... read | | |
 | A new app, the Whizzky Whisky Scanner, enables information to be delivered on-the-spot to whisky lovers, whether they are shopping for whisky or chatting to friends about a bottle and wanting to prove a fact... read | | |
 | Issued by Pyrotec Pyrotec invests in various training activities that include on-the-job training and ensuring staff are exposed to new systems and technologies. Additional training for personal development is also provided... read | | |  | NEW YORK - McDonald's reported slightly lower fourth-quarter earnings Monday as strong sales in Britain, Japan, China offset a drop in the United States... read | |  | THE HAGUE - Dutch food and cosmetics giant Unilever on Thursday posted a 5.5 percent rise in net profit boosted by deodorants and ice cream sales, but warned "tough markets" are to continue in 2017... read | |  | LONDON - Supermarket chain Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer, announced Friday it has agreed to purchase food wholesaler Booker for £3.7 billion ($4.7 billion, 4.4 billion euros)... read | |  | NEW YORK - Starbucks plans to hire 10,000 refugees worldwide over the next five years in response to President Donald Trump's travel ban, the head of the US coffee-chain company said Sunday... read | | | More International | |
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 | Lauren Hartzenberg The number of mobile phone users is expected to hit 4.8 billion in 2017 and 2,55 billion people are predicted to engage on social networks... read | |
|  | Want to join a leading luxury jewellery brand in Midrand, South Africa? Luxury jewellery brand, Louie Daniele is looking for senior sales executives. Email CV to careers@louiedaniele.com. Read more >> |
| | | | Professional selling skills workshopThe Peer Group - 25 Jan 2017, Johannesburg | 31 Jan 2017, Durban | 22 Feb 2017, Johannesburg | 22 Feb 2017, Durban | 14 Mar 2017, Durban | 29 Mar 2017, Johannesburg | 19 Apr 2017, Johannesburg | 24 May 2017, Johannesburg | 21 Jun 2017, Johannesburg | 26 Jul 2017, Johannesburg Transformational leadershipAO Development - 9 Feb 2017 to 10 Feb 2017, Johannesburg | 2 Mar 2017 to 3 Mar 2017, Johannesburg | 8 May 2017 to 9 May 2017, Johannesburg | 5 Jun 2017 to 6 Jun 2017, Johannesburg | 7 Aug 2017 to 8 Aug 2017, Johannesburg | 18 Sep 2017 to 19 Sep 2017, Johannesburg | 2 Nov 2017 to 3 Nov 2017, Johannesburg Short course in customer experience practiceEnterprises University of Pretoria - 19 Apr 2017 to 21 Apr 2017, Pretoria | 28 Jun 2017 to 30 Jun 2017, Pretoria | 29 Aug 2017 to 31 Aug 2017, Pretoria | 25 Oct 2017 to 27 Oct 2017, Pretoria Customer relationsProvox Centre for Public Relations & Communication - 24 Aug 2017 to 25 Aug 2017, Johannesburg | | |
| Oliver Wendell Holmes "The great thing in this world is not so much where you stand, as in what direction you are moving." Paulo Coelho "When you are enthusiastic about what you do, you feel this positive energy. It's very simple." Norman Vincent Peale "Change your thoughts and you change your world." Ronald Reagan "We can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone." Warren Buffett "Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago." |
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