• 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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You can read the transcript of the interview below, or listen to the podcast on iono.fm .

JIMMY MOYAHA:聽Bright and early at eight o鈥檆lock this morning, Africa鈥檚 largest retailer 鈥� not just South Africa鈥檚 largest 鈥� Africa鈥檚 largest grocery retailer in the form of the Shoprite Group released an update on their聽. If the numbers are anything to go by, this is going to be a very interesting conversation.

Revenue figures topped the R250 billion mark. Alongside this, more than R16 billion in savings was returned to customers.

The 500^th聽Usave store opened in South Africa alone. Those are just some of the figures that we鈥檙e going to get into with the chief executive officer of the Shoprite Group, Pieter Engelbrecht.

He joins me now to take a look at the performance of the business and see what we make of it. Oom Peter, always lovely catching up鈥� It seems every time we have this conversation, there鈥檚 always something new and there鈥檚 always something that surprises me in the numbers.

Let鈥檚 start with your thoughts around the performance of the business over the last year, and then we鈥檒l get into some of those numbers that I found quite surprising.

PIETER ENGELBRECHT:聽Okay, Jimmy, thanks a lot. The summary of it is 8.9% sales growth for the group. Of course, RSA supermarkets did much better at 9.5%. So top-line growth at a very, very low inflation 鈥� we must not forget that. Inflation came down to as low as 1.9%. One must be careful when you compare percentages, because a little more than a year ago, inflation was at 13%. Then, of course, you report maybe numbers in the twenties.

So, if you look at the number of 9% sales growth, you say, 鈥極h, are they slowing down or what?鈥� That鈥檚 not the case. We must always remember that.

Then if we go to the second line, which I鈥檓 very proud of, it鈥檚 the fact that gross profit has grown by 10.6%. We鈥檝e increased our percentage by 40 bps [basis points], yet remain the cheapest supermarket in South Africa, giving the best value.

You mentioned the number of R16.5 billion to consumers in savings at till point. And then, we jump to the bottom line, 16.6% growth in trading profit in the macro environment where we are. I don鈥檛 have to explain that to you. I think it summarises an outstanding performance from Team Shoprite, of which I鈥檓 very proud.

JIMMY MOYAHA:聽Following our last conversation, Oom Pieter, we鈥檝e spoken about the fact that Shoprite is ticking along as a global grocery retailer at this point 鈥� with the margins, with the numbers, with the metrics. By every standard, we are no longer comparing Shoprite to some of the local grocery companies you compete with, even though that is still primarily the landscape that you compete with. But at least when I look at the volumes of the amount of goods that the Shoprite business has been able to move in the past year, the numbers suggest that you are one of the best retailers in the world, not just in South Africa.

Now that鈥檚 a very telling statistic, especially if we think about the global landscape that we find ourselves in. How is Shoprite able to stay this competitive and this ahead of the game?

PIETER ENGELBRECHT:聽Right. Number one, we are absolutely customer-obsessed. I know all companies say, 鈥榗ustomer focused, customer focused鈥�, but we really live and breathe it.

I鈥檒l give you one example. We鈥檝e got the policy here that the sun doesn鈥檛 set on a customer complaint. What do we mean by that? Every single customer complaint that we get in a day is resolved on the same day. We don鈥檛 go to bed before it gets done. That鈥檚 why I can say we are really customer-obsessed.

With that comes the innovation that is needed for us to bring consumers value so that they can improve their lives.

This journey started a couple of years ago. We separated the brands very clearly [of] Shoprite and Checkers, and then we started to invest behind that.

From a technical or technological point of view, we have laid the foundation of the 麻豆原创 system that gave us line-item profitability and gave us a real view of stock across the supply chain. And then, we started investing in things like price-optimisation tools, personalisation tools, Rainmaker Media, a lot of digital AI data scientists. They started to write algorithms for us, to understand things better and make precise data-[based] decisions, not gut feeling 鈥� 鈥業 feel like this鈥�.

Maybe you鈥檒l like this example. We had a situation where one of the regions was losing pie sales. So what does the normal retailer instinct do, or tell you to do? It鈥檚 to say, 鈥榃hat about two for the price of one?鈥� That鈥檚 until we looked at the data and the data said no, people don鈥檛 buy two pies. They usually buy a pie and a muffin. Oh, so you make a deal for a price 鈥� a pie and a muffin.

That鈥檚 a simplistic way of explaining how you are making data-driven decisions compared to what you think and what your gut feel is.

And those products and all those investments we鈥檝e made are starting to mature now. We鈥檙e starting to see the return on investment from those. And we鈥檝e been investing quite a bit in capital. For the last three years almost every year we鈥檝e invested R8 billion in capital. Okay 鈥� a lot of that went into new stores as well, but a lot of that went into technology.

I鈥檒l give you another last example 鈥� I鈥檒l now be giving you two long-winded answers. But there are over 900 software upgrades on the Sixty60 platform in a year, meaning enhancements to make the experience better, faster, all those things. That alone tells you a story of what goes into the innovation part.

JIMMY MOYAHA:聽Oom Pieter, I want to take a look at the other side of the business around the expansion 鈥� opening a net 281 stores. We touched on the fact that one of those was the opening of the 500^th聽Usave store in South Africa. The business has been growing.

Alongside that, the business has been continuing to create jobs within that space, adding more than 8聽700 jobs in this particular financial year.

I saw something interesting that came out of the team at Just聽Share around the average minimum wage that鈥檚 being paid by Top聽40 companies. Now, Shoprite didn鈥檛 rank highest on that list, but Shoprite does employ more than 150聽000 individuals across the business. How do you sustain all of these employees, and how do you take the approach to looking after them the same way you look after your customers?

PIETER ENGELBRECHT:聽Yes, I do think that鈥檚 a one-sided comparison. But it鈥檚 not. It鈥檚 the emotional argument and not one that you can win. So let鈥檚 stick to the facts 鈥� Shoprite employees.

On our payroll, we have 168 000 people. One must not forget that there are a lot of indirect jobs that are not accounted for here. I鈥檓 talking about trolley collectors, merchandisers at store level, security personnel.

If you add all of that, we鈥檙e talking a number of probably closer to 230 000-odd people that Shoprite almost directly employs.

We are extremely proud of the 8聽700 direct jobs we鈥檝e created. Now, what is the thing about minimum wage and then the CEO鈥檚 salary? Somewhere I have to start. The second question when you apply for a job that you get asked is 鈥榃hat鈥檚 the relevant experience?鈥� Now, where am I going to get the relevant experience if there鈥檚 no employment in the country? So we make a special effort to give people a chance. It鈥檚 a starting point only, and you don鈥檛 stay at that level where you start, the day you start right at the lowest level or at the minimum wage.

Employment efforts

In the past year, we specifically selected unemployed youth. We spent R130 million training them to give them some form of experience to equip them better to find employment.

Secondly, we have internally had over 18 000 internal promotions 鈥� in other words people who were promoted internally. So they obviously are now moving away and further away from the minimum wage, so to speak.

Then what everybody forgets is that very few, if any other, South African companies have an Employee Trust. Our Employee Trust already has paid over a billion rand to our employees.

The only requirement to qualify is you must have two years of employment history with us, of course. You must have been employed by us for two years or more.

Those are not salaries or bonuses and that. It鈥檚 easy to forget all of these and the fact that we鈥檝e spent over R1聽billion in this year on training of these 170聽000 people, equipping them even better to improve or get a promotion 鈥� or even, for that matter, to go into business on their own.

I think any person who has been at Shoprite for five years or so can do anything. They would be so well equipped in terms of a general [understanding of] how business is conducted 鈥� from reading financial statements to customer service. We have to look at this holistically and then say what we really do.

JIMMY MOYAHA:聽Holistically, it鈥檚 certainly an important thing. And for context, that 168 000 people that Shoprite does employ makes them the largest private-sector employer in South Africa by number of people on their payroll.

Oom Pieter, let鈥檚 wrap things up with the other billion-rand conversation, the billion rand in buybacks that you鈥檝e been able to conduct in this financial year alone, bringing the total share buybacks of this particular endeavour to just over R2.6 billion. That鈥檚 returning value to the other client of yours 鈥� and that鈥檚 of course the shareholder.

PIETER ENGELBRECHT:聽Definitely. And this year, I鈥檇 love to add to that. Obviously we look at our cash, the free cash flow that we generate; we generate roughly R23 billion in cash in a year. We spend R8 billion on capex. We pay tax. We pay dividends. And then we make sure we maintain roughly around $10 billion in free cash flow.

That was part of a plan. We still have a mandate to do more buybacks. But that always comes when we think that is a better option of return to the shareholder than any other investment.

Then, on top of that, don鈥檛 forget we have not skipped paying a dividend any year 鈥� through Covid-19 and all of those things. The dividend is up this year 9.7% 鈥� R8.71 is the final dividend for the full-year dividend. The return on equity on the share for the shareholders is currently at 26% 鈥� actually 27% 鈥� and the Roic [return on invested capital] this year moved from 16% to 19.6%

I think as a general myself, a shareholder, I am content with that performance.

JIMMY MOYAHA:聽Contentment from the largest retailer on the African continent after a stellar year of performance. The business continues to grow in every metric, including the online business that has reached just shy of R19 billion in sales through the Sixty60 business.

But we鈥檙e going to have to leave this conversation on that note. We are unfortunately out of time. Thank you so much to the chief executive officer of the Shoprite Group, Pieter Engelbrecht, for taking us through the performance of the business and some of the big milestones the business has been able to achieve.

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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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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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