It is not yet clear just how extensive the destruction of particularly retail and warehouse property and the looting of stock in the unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng was.
Panic buying across neighbourhoods in Gauteng has seen popular grocery delivery services such as Checkers Sixty60 and Bottles by Pick n Pay buckle under the load.
South Africans are expected to face major food shortages in the wake of days of violent unrest across two key provinces, as rioters upend supply chains by looting supermarkets and torching goods trucks.
Pieter Boone plans to accelerate his predecessor’s eight-year turnaround of the South African grocer by boosting online sales and focusing on stores that cater for lower-to-middle income consumers.
Just a week after its CEO, Pieter Engelbrecht, teased the launch of its own mobile service, Shoprite Group has provided details of the launch K’nect Mobile, its mobile virtual network operator platform.
Pick n Pay can expect some competition from rival Shoprite when it comes to offering a mobile data and voice service.
Telkom will charge users of its new Telkom Pay wallet, which is built on top of WhatsApp, a flat fee of 2.5% for transactions and card top-ups.
Telkom has launched a digital wallet that allows users to pay others and get paid themselves using their mobile phone and WhatsApp.
TechCentral reported on Tuesday that Pick n Pay was set to become the first mobile virtual network operator on MTN’s network. The companies have now published details about the PnP Mobile initiative.
In the latest profile in the CxO Insights series, TechCentral speaks to Richard van Rensburg, chief technology and security officer at Pick n Pay, and how technology is shaking up the retail sector.