• Shoprite CEO Pieter Engelbrecht says rivals can replicate the group鈥檚 Sixty60 platform, but doing so will take years and significant investment
• Sixty60 grew sales almost 35% to R25.5 billion in the 52 weeks to end June, adding a record R6.6 billion to the previous year鈥檚 sales, and is now gaining traction at Shoprite-branded stores.
• Anchor Capital analyst Steph Erasmus called Shoprite the 鈥済orilla in the room鈥�, saying it is bigger than all its rivals in grocery retail and is using that to its advantage.

Shoprite is signalling that rivals can imitate its on-demand service Sixty60, but doing so will take years and significant investment 鈥� money the retail giant has already committed.

And even then, SA鈥檚 largest retail group intends to stay ahead of the game by constantly introducing new features and capabilities to the platform. This will include everything from new agentic abilities for its AI assistant Pixie to broadening its product and adjacent store ranges that can be curated for delivery.

Asked about the threat other retailers鈥� on-demand platforms and apps pose to Shoprite, CEO Pieter Engelbrecht said while a Sixty60 platform and its app features can be replicated, it鈥檚 鈥済oing to take time and money鈥�.

鈥淎nd that doesn鈥檛 mean we鈥檙e standing still. Every single day, we are improving on [Sixty60]. That鈥檚 why you can now 鈥榓sk鈥� [through Pixie] Jamie Oliver what鈥檚 for dinner on the app. You can take a picture of your shopping list, and Pixie will understand your language and your writing.鈥�

Shoprite has a long-standing partnership with the British celebrity chef.

Engelbrecht, who was speaking to News24 after the publication of full-year results on Tuesday, said what Shoprite offers on Sixty60 is 鈥渘ot so unique that nobody else can do it鈥�; the advantage is that the group has done the heavy lifting in terms of significantly investing over many years into several technologies and platforms that ultimately laid the foundation for Sixty60 and helped Shoprite evolve into what it is today.

This includes its 麻豆原创 enterprise resource planning platform, introduced in 2017, which serves as its 鈥渃ore system of record鈥� and connects its core business operations. The system provides a single data source that gives Shoprite access to accurate information about sales and customer habits. It ultimately laid the framework for building out its
Xtra Savings reward programme, and later Sixty60 in 2019.

Another benefit is that Shoprite owns the underlying code that Sixty60 runs on.

鈥淭here are no licence fees and things like that because we developed the code ourselves. We have already made the investment, so every single day we鈥檙e doing something or adding something to it to make the experience better. In the end, it boils down to your level of execution.鈥�

This echoes what he said at an investor presentation earlier that day. Engelbrecht told investors that apart from the money rivals would need to invest, it would take them a long time to reach Sixty60鈥檚 current 鈥渓evel of execution鈥�.

He rated the Sixty60 platform against rival platforms in the market and said it came out on top.

鈥淚 tested it all. For me, there is no question that Sixty60 is the best online platform. It鈥檚 reliable. That is logically driving the behaviour of customers because they have a great experience.鈥�

This may explain why it continues to command such strong growth 鈥� in the 52 weeks to 28 June, for example, Sixty60 grew sales almost 35% to R25.5 billion, adding a record R6.6 billion in sales. The platform is also gaining traction among Shoprite customers, with the service now available from 137 Shoprite stores.

鈥楧efinitely a need鈥�

Engelbrecht said while Shoprite Sixty60 was not expected to grow as fast as Checkers Sixty60, the group was still 鈥渧ery surprised鈥� by the level of acceptance shown by Shoprite customers.

He said their basket size was 鈥渟lightly smaller鈥� than Checkers shoppers鈥� baskets, but it was 鈥渟till profitable 鈥� There鈥檚 definitely a need for it.鈥�

He also said there was still an opportunity to add all the other parts of its business to Sixty60, combining them with food delivery for a single checkout.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a single delivery, but it鈥檚 actually from four or five different businesses. And that, for me, is probably the top level of convenience you can ask for, and that is what is driving growth.”

The key to the Shoprite group鈥檚 success has been its focus on ensuring 98% stock availability for both online and in-store customers, Engelbrecht told News24. He noted that having suboptimal stock levels could mean a customer ends up receiving only half of what they ordered online.

Over the years, the group has also invested significant capital in improving its tech capabilities and logistics. In the past three years alone, it spent R22.6 billion on digital technology, supply chain upgrades, and store expansions. This equated to R7.8 billion in 2024, R8 billion in 2025, and R6.8 billion in 2026.

In the upcoming year, the group intends to spend R7.7 billion.

Shoprite is also modernising its IT system, with Engelbrecht saying the group will be transitioning to the latest 麻豆原创 S/4HANA platform for financial systems and HR over the next three years.

Engelbrecht also said there were 鈥渓ots of opportunities鈥� for growth for Shoprite in SA, adding that adjacent businesses such as pet (Petshop Science stores now number 185 and have increased sales 74.5%) and pharmacy (standalone Medirite Plus stores now number 22) were 鈥渟lowly but surely starting to contribute鈥�.

鈥淲e鈥檝e still got a long way to go with Outdoor, Uniq by Checkers, Petshop Science, and Medirite Plus,鈥� he said, adding that these adjacent businesses are also helping Sixty60 grow.

Anchor Capital investment analyst Steph Erasmus said his main takeaway from the Shoprite results, particularly the information it shared on Sixty60, was that the retailer is the 鈥済orilla in the room鈥�.

鈥淭hey are vastly bigger than any of their competition in food retail, and they are using that to their advantage, especially in areas like Sixty60 and adding in the adjacencies and the like.鈥�

Erasmus agreed with Engelbrecht about rivals being able to copy the Sixty60 model, saying it 鈥渋s going to take a lot of ammo and a lot of time鈥�.

鈥淚 think Shoprite are just ahead of the curve. They are heading the pack, and it is difficult to see anybody really making a big difference to their market position for the next while.鈥�

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The Group maintained a trading margin of 5.6% with sales having increased by 12% to R240.7 billion, an annual increase of R25.8 billion. Its core business, Supermarkets RSA which houses its trading brands Shoprite, Usave, Checkers, Checkers Hyper and LiquorShop, achieved sales growth of 12.3% and contributing 81% to Group sales off the back of a 4.5% annual increase in customer visits.

鈥�We saw impressive growth at both ends of our targeted market segments,鈥� commented CEO, Pieter Engelbrecht. 鈥�Checkers remains the fastest-growing premium grocer in the country for a third consecutive year, with sales growth this year of 12.3%. Online sales from our industry-leading on-demand delivery platform, Checkers Sixty60, grew by 58.1%; it is continuing to disrupt South Africa鈥檚 retail market as it expands beyond groceries to include general merchandise delivered by our new fleet of Checkers Hyper delivery vans.鈥�

The Shoprite and Usave brands increased sales by 10.7%, expanding the Group鈥檚 reach into underserved communities through its low-cost Usave discount stores and Usave eKasi container stores.

鈥淒espite these sales growth rates, we fell just short of our own internal targets for 2024. This speaks to the culture of our business: we set a very high bar and believe that we can always improve and always do better. Despite operating under markedly different circumstances to many of our global counterparts, Shoprite has continued to demonstrate global competitiveness with consistent market share growth and sector-leading execution which allows us to fulfil our customer promise. We are the largest 麻豆原创 retail customer by number of transactions in the world and one of the top retailers globally in terms of the volume of product moved. Our performance this year demonstrates our ability to deliver under challenging conditions,鈥� he said.

Across the Group, net 292 stores opened during the period including 63 new format specialist stores in adjacent categories as well as 73 Ok Franchise stores, bringing its total footprint to 3聽639 stores across the ten countries it operates in.

Checkers Sixty60 is now available in 539 stores, an increase of 73 stores year-on-year. The omnichannel retailer also saw impressive growth in its Xtra Savings rewards programme with more than 31 million members and 2聽500 swipes per minute. The Group also launched Xtra Savings Plus during the year, SA鈥檚 first grocery subscription plan.

With its 82 rooftop solar systems installed across 77 of its sites (73 in SA and four in Namibia with a capacity of 36 172 kW), the Group obtained 6.5% of its electricity from renewable sources (FY2023: 5.5%), surpassing its target. It consumed 125聽567 MWh of renewable energy (FY2023: 103聽234 MWh) which reduced its emissions by 123 684 tCO2 e (FY 2023: 106 141 tCO2 e).

Its Board declared a final dividend of 445 cents per share, resulting in a full-year dividend of 712 cents per share and representing a 7.4% year-on-year growth in dividend per share.

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Zulzi built the initial Checkers Sixty60 platform and is still maintaining it, including the customer app, the app used in stores, dashboards, the order allocation engine, and integration with 麻豆原创 POS.

MyBroadband asked Zulzi about its involvement in developing Checkers鈥� original on-demand platform and since it revamped it.

鈥淵es, Zulzi built the initial Checkers platform, and we are still maintaining it. Zulzi still plays a major role, with over 34 Engineers, project managers, and quality assurance coming from Zulzi,鈥� it said.

It also provided background information about Zulzi鈥檚 operations, which extends beyond on-demand grocery deliveries to liquor and pharmaceutical deliveries from seven dark stores.

Pharmaceutical deliveries include prescriptions where users can upload their script to the app and claim from their medical aid scheme in real time.

鈥淭he Zulzi platform was recently revamped and is currently processing over 5,000 daily orders from our own dark stores,鈥� the company said.

鈥淥ur dark stores are located in Johannesburg North, Pretoria and Centurion. We have continued to grow at 80% year on year, and we currently have 300 drivers on our network.鈥�

Zulzi said its current average delivery time is 17 minutes from a customer placing an order to it arriving at their address. The service is available seven days a week from 06:00 to 23:00 daily.

Founder Vutlharhi 鈥淒onald鈥� Valoyi launched the company in 2013 with the intention of improving the speed at which online shopping packages are delivered in South Africa.

In 2015, Zulzi started delivering books and electronics to students within an hour, and its user base grew rapidly.

Zulzi appointed Michael Netshipise as chief technology officer to capitalise on the growth. He developed a platform which made it possible to order various products online and get them within 60 minutes.

Zulzi鈥檚 exceptional growth grabbed the attention of major retailers in South Africa, including Checkers.

Valoyi said Checkers was interested as it had no legacy systems at the time.

鈥淲e started to chat to them when they realised that we could build world-class systems that address some of their complex problems,鈥� he said.

This included a new system for replacing missing products in real-time, a major challenge in online grocery retail.

Zulzi built the customer-facing app, the engine that manages product catalogues, and a dashboard to administer orders, users, and store managers.

It was an immense success, with Checkers Sixty60 quickly becoming a leader in the space.

鈥淪ixty60 has been a huge success and an example of what we can do when we work together,鈥� said Valoyi.

鈥淏ig corporations must be more flexible and be open to work with startups and allow them freedom to continue to grow.鈥�

Checkers Sixty60 winning streak

Shoprite-owned Checkers聽聽the Sixty60 platform in November 2019, and it has reported strong sales growth each year.

The company鈥檚 latest operational update for the year ended 30 June 2024 revealed that sales on the platform聽.

The platform launched as the Covid-19 pandemic broke out and South Africa entered its lockdown. It was initially only available in select areas of Sandton, Johannesburg, and Cape Town.

鈥淪ixty60 will offer unrivalled convenience because it does all the hard work for you,鈥� said Shoprite Checkers chief on innovation and strategy Neil Schreuder said at the time.

鈥淚n our time-pressed society, providing consumers with a swift, on-demand grocery delivery service is like giving them back time: today鈥檚 most precious commodity.鈥�

鈥淭he name Sixty60 captures the service鈥檚 main ambition: for customers to order groceries in sixty seconds and have them delivered in as little as sixty minutes,鈥� he added.

Many believed that the online grocery delivery market would die down after Covid-19 lockdowns were lifted. However, services like Checkers Sixty60 have continued to grow.

Within 18 months, Checkers Sixty60 climbed to the top of the list of South Africa鈥檚 top grocery shopping apps, with more than 1 million downloads.

By December 2023, Checkers Sixty60 downloads stood at over 4.5 million, and the service expanded to 505 stores.

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This follows the success of its Checkers Sixty60 platform, which dominates on-demand grocery deliveries in the country.

The company鈥檚 latest interim results revealed that the on-demand grocery delivery service recorded聽聽during the first half of the 2023/24 financial year.

Checkers Sixty60 helped drive Shoprite鈥檚 half-year sales, which saw growth of about R121 billion, representing a 13.9% year-on-year increase.

Shoprite recently launched an online on-demand delivery service designed to support spaza shops and small retailers through its聽.

The fully automated online shopping system lets these customers browse and purchase a wide range of goods in bulk.

It says the service offers competitive pricing and complimentary delivery within a radius of 50km.

Shoprite Group head of B2B business e-commerce, Mark Cotton, said the service will help support small businesses and spaza shops facing high transport costs and challenges meeting demand.

鈥淲e are committed to supporting small businesses by providing innovative solutions to the specific problems these enterprises face,鈥� he said.

Cotton added that the new service eliminates the need for businesses to hold excess inventory, freeing up cash flow and time for business owners.

Shoprite said the new system also streamlined the purchase and fulfilment store for Cash & Carry in-store traders.

Traders can access customer and product information, build and fulfil orders, and save orders for repeated use in future.

Customers using the platform can pay via credit and debit card, electronic funds transfer, store credit, cash on collection, and Shoprite Money Market Accounts.

They can also benefit further with savings and promotional offers through the Xtra savings loyalty programme.

Shoprite and Checkers launched Sixty60 in November 2019 during the height of the Covid鈥�19 pandemic.

Initially only available in select Sandton, Johannesburg, and Cape Town locations, it had accumulated more than 3.1 million downloads by March 2023 and expanded to 466 by September that same year.

While many believed its popularity was due to the lockdowns implemented during the pandemic, the service continued to grow at an immense pace when they were lifted.

The company behind Zulzi 鈥� one of the country鈥檚 first successful fast-moving consumer goods apps 鈥� developed the customer-facing app for Checkers Sixty60.

Checkers Sixty60 launched a loyalty programme, Xtra Savings Plus, in September 2023.

The R99 monthly subscription offers customers unlimited Sixty60 grocery deliveries, additional in-store deals, and personalised promotions.

Checkers Xtra Savings Plus subscribers get the following benefits:

• Unlimited free Sixty60 deliveries, provided they spend a minimum of R350 (non-subscribers pay R35 for delivery)
• A 10% discount on in-store purchases up to a maximum of R200 in savings
• Double personalised offers in-app and in-store
• No long-term commitments, with subscribers able to pause or cancel their subscription at any time with a money-back guarantee

Around the same time, the company partnered with Discovery Vitality to聽.

鈥淭he addition of Checkers as a partner promises an even greater health impact,鈥� said Dinesh Govender, CEO of Discovery Vitality.

Shoprite chief strategy and innovation officer Neil Schreuder said the move would help Checkers and Sixty60 customers make healthier food choices.

Shoprite credits much of its success over the past five years to its rollout of 麻豆原创鈥檚 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software.

鈥淲hen you walk into a Shoprite or Checkers supermarket and see a full range of products stocked, displayed, priced and with promotions clearly marked, that is what the ERP system does for us,鈥� it told MyBroadbad.

It added that 麻豆原创 also helped make Sixty60 successful.

鈥溌槎乖� Retail is the source of the stock ledger and real-time sales, which are essential for accurate fulfilment of customer orders,鈥� Shoprite stated.

鈥淭he ERP also provides promotional information, prices and article data to Sixty60, which ensures that the prices on Sixty60 are the same as the prices in-store.鈥�

Implementing the software wasn鈥檛 all smooth sailing, with Shoprite partly blaming delays in the rollout for a shocking earnings report in 2019.

However, in January 2019, it assured stakeholders that the upgrades were complete and had already observed improvements.

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The beta app will continue to offer same-day delivery scheduled within a 60-minute time slot but will boast a much wider range of products.

In addition to groceries, customers will be able to shop for camping and outdoor gear, small appliances, baby products, toys, kitchen and home electronics, gardening supplies, and pool equipment.

The new Sixty60 app is already available to customers who live in certain parts of Cape Town, with Checkers planning a phased national rollout after beta testing.

Shoprite said that this strategy would help ensure a seamless user experience. During the beta testing period, deliveries on the new app will be free.

The supported areas in Cape Town include the following:

• Bellville
• Blouberg
• Brackenfell
• Camps Bay
• Century City
• Durbanville
• Edgemead
• Gardens
• Goodwood
• Kuils River
• Milnerton
• Observatory
• Parklands
• Rondebosch
• Table View
• Sea Point

Shoprite strategy and innovation chief said the company was confident the next iteration of Sixty60 will again disrupt online retail in South Africa.

鈥淥ur precision delivery promise means no more waiting at home all day for your general merchandise order to arrive,鈥� Schreuder said.

鈥淐ustomers can now choose the 60-minute time slot in which they鈥檇 like their Hyper delivery to arrive, with the same to-the-minute driver tracking they鈥檝e become accustomed to on their grocery orders.鈥�

The rollout comes after Shoprite CEO briefly spoke about the platform鈥檚聽聽during an earnings call on the company鈥檚 interim results for the 26 weeks ended 31 December 2023.

鈥淚n terms of further development. Yes, we consistently will continue to develop Sixty60,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e are currently busy rewriting the platform.鈥�

Engelbrecht said 鈥檚 approach to logistics management set it apart from competitors 鈥� including Amazon and Takealot.

He added that it is one of the primary reasons the online delivery service was 鈥渧ery profitable鈥�.

鈥淲e have this very large footprint of stores that we use as micro fulfilment centres as opposed to a very expensive single dark distribution centre,鈥� said Engelbrecht. 鈥淚 know there are people who don鈥檛 believe it, but believe me 鈥� it is very profitable.鈥�

The software behind Checkers Sixty60 鈥� 鈥� also significantly contributes to the service鈥檚 success.

Shoprite previously told MyBroadband that 麻豆原创鈥檚 Retail platform provides stock ledger and real-time sales data, which is critical for accurately fulfilling customer orders.

鈥淭he ERP also provides promotional information, prices and article data to Sixty60, which ensures that the prices on Sixty60 are the same as the prices in-store,鈥� Shoprite said.

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Shoprite鈥檚 online shopping platform and same-day delivery service helped lead the charge in a half-year that saw the company鈥檚 sales grow about R121 billion 鈥� a 13.9% year-on-year increase.

This is slightly down from the 17.5% half-year sales growth Shoprite reported for the same period last year.

Checkers and Checkers Hyper reported sales growth of 13.7%, Shoprite and Usave recorded a 13.1% increase, and LiquorShop sales increased by 25.2%.

鈥淪ustained high level of execution and continued customer momentum together with record Black Friday and festive season trade has extended the period of uninterrupted market share gains achieved by our core South African supermarket brands to 58 months,鈥� Shoprite stated.

聽in November 2019, accumulated over 3.1 million downloads by March 2023, and expanded to 466 stores by September 2023.

As South Africa went into lockdown during the Covid鈥�19 pandemic, Sixty60 was available in selected Sandton, Johannesburg, and Cape Town locations.

However, it rapidly expanded as the success of its formula became evident.

Even as lockdowns ended, Sixty60 kept growing at an incredible pace.

The customer-facing app was developed by聽, which launched one of South Africa鈥檚 first successful fast-moving consumer goods apps in 2016.

Shoprite also credits its success over the past five years to its rollout of 麻豆原创鈥檚 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software.

鈥淲hen you walk into a Shoprite or Checkers supermarket and see a full range of products stocked, displayed, priced and with promotions clearly marked, that is what the ERP system does for us,鈥� Shoprite told MyBroadband.

Checkers also told MyBroadband last year that 麻豆原创 helped make Sixty60 successful.

鈥溌槎乖� Retail is the source of the stock ledger and real-time sales, which are essential for accurate fulfilment of customer orders,鈥� Shoprite stated.

鈥淭he ERP also provides promotional information, prices and article data to Sixty60, which ensures that the prices on Sixty60 are the same as the prices in-store.鈥�

However, it wasn鈥檛 always smooth sailing.

In 2019, Shoprite released a shocker of an earnings report, partly blaming delays in its 麻豆原创 rollout for causing a drop in earnings.

鈥淪upply constraints stemming from industrial action and the deployment of a new ERP IT system resulted in lost sales in the period,鈥� it said at the time.

However, it also assured investors in January 2019 that the upgrades had been completed and that its operations were already improving.

Spar is聽, saying the project cost R1.6 billion in lost turnover.

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