Spar gears up to take on Checkers Sixty60

Retail group Spar is gearing up to take on Shoprite Group’s Checkers Sixty60 and Pick n Pay’s asap! in online grocery shopping in South Africa with a rapid expansion of its own e-commerce platform.

Spar said in its interim results for the six months ended 31 March 2022, published on Wednesday, that its e-commerce offering, called Spar2U, will be expanded to many more stores countrywide in the coming months.

“There is great enthusiasm from our independent retailers to implement Spar’s new online shopping platform, Spar2U. Our online platform is receiving positive reviews and a large number of stores are preparing to launch online within their communities in the coming months,” the group told investors.

Spar is a late entrant into the online grocery delivery business.

Shoprite aggressively rolled out its Sixty60 offering across the country during the hard lockdown in 2020, benefiting from a pandemic-induced shift in consumer spending to online buying.

Pick n Pay has also upped its game, rebranding its offering as Pick n Pay asap! and recently signing an agreement with Naspers-owned Takealot Group that will allow customers to buy Pick n Pay food, groceries and liquor on a new platform on Takealot’s Mr D app.

In its latest results, Spar increased turnover (revenue from merchandise sales) by 5.2% to R67.6-billion. Group operating profit increased by 7.1% to R1.8-billion. The board declared an interim dividend of R1.75/share.  – © 2022 NewsCentral Media

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