Retail Archives - Page 2 of 3 - AfricaBusiness.com

6Jan

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Africa is leapfrogging into the future of retail

The bi-annual Global Retail Development Index (GRDI), which is a study of the global retailing landscape has revealed Africa is poised to move away from traditional retail models and become the fastest-growing, richest, and most sophisticated market in the world. Prashaen Reddy, a partner at management consulting firm Kearney says that this is thanks to the explosive growth of young, urban, and digitally savvy consumers; increasing mobile phone penetration; the creation of digital payment and shopping networks; favorable governmental regulations and spending initiatives; and significant investment by both foreign and domestic companies. In the most stable times, retailers expanding their global footprint face a series of difficult decisions. Yet in the wake of COVID-19, together, these f...

10Oct

By Jana BothaNo Comments

Kenya News, Main, South Africa News, Startups

Africa: tax implications of digital transformation in the consumer goods and retail sector

By Jana Botha, Tax Consultant, and Prenisha Govender, Associate, Tax Practice, Baker McKenzie Johannesburg The pandemic-fuelled growth of the digital economy and unabated demand for online retail products across Africa have led to extensive disruption in the Consumer Goods and Retail Sector (CG&R) sector. Due to a growth in demand for online retail, CG&R companies in Africa have been rapidly adapting their digital operating models, and multinational e-commerce platforms operating in the region have attracted a record number of new customers. This digital transition, and resultant growth in the e-commerce sector, has tax implications for digital CG&R businesses operating in Africa. The OECD’s Pillar One and Two Multilateral international tax changes currently being implemente...

18Aug

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Tech

Zebra Technologies introduces its first Wi-Fi 6-Enabled Mobile Computer

Zebra Technologies Corporation, an innovator at the front line of business with solutions and partners that deliver a performance edge, announced the new TC52ax mobile computer with support for Wi-Fi 6. The TC52ax also features Workstation Connect, a new software solution which enables users to turn Zebra mobile devices into mobile-driven workstations. The solution can help improve worker efficiency, simplify infrastructure, and improve return on investments in retail, manufacturing and warehouse environments. The TC52ax is ideal for price check and item lookup, inventory and cycle counts, line busting, merchandising, and buy online pick up in store (BOPIS) and buy online, pick up at curbside (BOPAC) applications. With Wi-Fi 6 on the TC52ax, manufacturers can increase bandwidth and capa...

Future proofing banking through the power of data, APIs and automation

15Jul

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Fintech

Future proofing banking through the power of data, APIs and automation

The global pandemic has ushered in a new paradigm for the Retail Banking sector, one which demands quicker transformation to a customer-centric service that is digitised, personal and convenient. A recent Financial Industries panel discussion held by Kearney, a global consultancy, shed light on how the power of data, Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and automation could be leveraged to satisfy these expectations and invigorate the sector. Hentus Honiball, Partner at Kearney, maintains that large, traditional banks with complex, cumbersome operating models and legacy technology architecture are now being threatened by agile new fintech entrants. In contrast with the siloed, product-centric approach of traditional players, responsive new players are looking to build customer-centric...

Afrikrea Launches ANKA to Power Global African E-Commerce

28Apr

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Business, Republic of Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast)

Afrikrea Launches ANKA to Power Global African E-Commerce

Ivorian company partners with DHL and Visa and builds SaaS Platform for omnichannel global selling for African micro retailers Afrikrea, the e-commerce platform for “all things made of Africa”, is launching ANKA - an all-in one SaaS solution to provide a seamless ecommerce, payments and global shipping online service for thousands of micro retailers and businesses on the continent and around the world, as it continues to power e-commerce for Africa. Launched to coincide with Afrikrea’s fifth anniversary of operations, ANKA (meaning “Ours” in Bambara and Djoula) allows merchants to easily: Sell via a customised online storefront (like Shopify), social media platforms or by links such as on Gumroad and also the Afrikrea marketplace. This is carried out via an omnichannel dashboard with ...

26Apr

By GenslerNo Comments

Real Estate

5 Principles for Retail Center Repositioning

As we look ahead to a post-pandemic future, there’s one market segment that’s currently ripe for redevelopment and transformation: the traditional retail mall. With the massive transformation of real estate spurred by the pandemic, retail centers will emerge as one of the most valuable asset classes in a post-pandemic landscape, as building owners, investors, and developers look to reposition these aging, vacant, or underutilized properties — converting them into vibrant, mixed-use developments that will unlock latent value and meet consumers’ rapidly changing demands. CBRE Research predicts up to a 20% reduction in total retail real estate inventory by 2025, which will be largely triggered by large-scale adaptive reuse and conversion, particularly among Class B and C malls that have been ...

16Apr

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News

SA shoppers are online. Retailers need to meet them with an exceptional experience

Consumers are embracing the e-commerce experience in growing numbers and corporate South Africa is taking serious notice, according to Geoff Hardy, Head of Digital, Immersion Group, a global team of experience design experts. Across the globe online sales have surged, while locally online transactions on Black Friday alone grew by more than 60%, and a recent study released by Mastercard found that 68% of South Africans are shopping more online since the beginning of last year. “The Covid-19 pandemic undoubtedly accelerated prevailing trends as well as consumer behaviour and preferences by as much as a decade. This extraordinary industry-wide transformation is a forecast of the future of South African retail,” notes Hardy. He says a solid digital footprint and strategy have become non-negot...

Why ecommerce matters for small businesses in SA

14Mar

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News

Why ecommerce matters for small businesses in SA

There has been a permanent change in the way that people shop and, in turn, the way that businesses need to operate. In the absence of brick-and-mortar stores being open during the lockdown, as well as a general fear of crowded malls when things were able to re-open, South Africa’s ecommerce sector exploded. According to Trevor Gosling, Co-founder and CEO of Lulalend – financing partner to South Africa’s small- to medium-enterprises (SMEs), he has seen a phenomenal growth in ecommerce businesses who have connected with them for SME financing. Between the period of October 2020 and February 2021, Lulalend saw an 86% increase in loans made to ecommerce businesses and online retailers in comparison to the same period between 2019 and 2020. “The loans were strongly linked to growth-related req...

Zebra Technologies improves worker productivity with its first individually assigned Enterprise Mobile Computer

27Jan

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Tech

Zebra Technologies improves worker productivity with its first individually assigned Enterprise Mobile Computer

New Zebra EC5x series provides sleek yet durable smartphone-style design with an enriched software suite, enabling greater collaboration, individual performance and productivity Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: ZBRA), an innovator at the front line of business with solutions and partners that deliver a performance edge, today announced the EC5x series, a new category of individually assigned mobile computers designed to keep workers connected and informed while improving individual productivity, collaboration and the customer experience across multiple industries. Featuring the look and feel of a consumer smartphone with the Android™10 operating system (OS), an optional integrated scanner and a robust software suite specifically designed for front-line workers, the durable EC5x seri...

TradeDepot highlights smaller packs and increased food spending as top trends that will shape Nigeria’s retail sector in 2021

12Jan

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Nigeria News

TradeDepot highlights smaller packs and increased food spending as top trends that will shape Nigeria’s retail sector in 2021

TradeDepot, the B2B eCommerce platform for consumer goods in Africa, has today released new insights from its market data that highlights the trends that will shape Nigeria’s retail sector in 2021. According to TradeDepot, the impact of the pandemic, rising inflation, border closures and other issues drove significant changes in behaviour for retailers, distributors and manufacturers in 2020. As the sector settles into the new year, TradeDepot predicts that some of the main trends that shaped 2020 - particularly smaller packaging for consumer goods and increased spending on food and essential goods due to dwindling disposable income and people spending more time at home - will continue to influence behaviour across the market. The retail sector is the third largest contributor to Nigeria’s...