Shoprite, a leading grocery supermarket, has launched a new digital business unit, ShopriteX, which combines data science, technology and innovation with its operational strength to provide increasingly enhanced customer experiences.
Businesses are ramping up their digital offerings amid the Covid-19 pandemic as more people shop online.
Incubated over the past year, ShopriteX combines data science and technology to create more personalised shopping experiences for customers.
The retailer said ShopriteX had already delivered two innovations: Xtra Savings, a rewards programme with 20 million members to date, and Checkers Sixty60, the first on-demand 60-minute supermarket grocery delivery service in South Africa.
Sixty60 is a grocery delivery app that has been downloaded more than 1.5 million times and has created 2 870 jobs
Pieter Engelbrecht, the chief executive of the Shoprite Group, said: “We are serious about being Africa’s most customer-centric retailer, and the launch of ShopriteX represents our investment in fit-for-the-future precision retail, which is increasingly digital and data-led.”
Shoprite said the launch was part of the group’s strategy to grow its ecosystem of value for consumers and monetise new and diverse revenue streams.
Neil Schreuder, the chief of strategy and innovation, said: “Shoprite to the power of X represents the exponential growth opportunity when you combine the best of data, tech and talent with the scale of the Shoprite Group.”
Innovations such as Sixty60 and Xtra Savings had seen the team scoop 17 innovation awards in the past year, and Schreuder said the group was “just getting started”.
“Through a culture of innovation and start-up-like pace, our teams are making grocery shopping more personalised for customers, while removing friction from the retail experience.”
iol
