But in the third quarter of 2019, things took a downturn when 21 000 jobs were lost. However, surprisingly, Stats SA reports inflation to be the lowest in over eight years. This is, in part, due to the prices of many goods and services are increasing at a slower rate, while some prices have even fallen.

And while this is good for the consumer, it's tough for the retailer. What Michelle Kemp, Massmart corporate reputation manager says, "Our intention is to get the retail basics right so that customers have a much more pleasant shopping experience." The Game Store restructuring rings true with what many local businesses need to look at doing.

Key retail updates on the market from Finance 24 state that:
  • Edcon saved most of the 1 000 jobs under threat, being rescued by its lenders and landlords who took part in the R2.7-billion recapitalisation deal.
  • Shoprite and Pick n Pay are creating a solid footprint in other African countries. Shoprite's operations in the rest of Africa experienced problems in 2019, with Angolan sales shrinking by more than 38%.
  • Pick n Pay's African earnings "dived 79.8% year-on-year" from September 2019, as Zimbabwe and Zambia saw debilitating currency devaluation and hyperinflation.
  • Pepkor is exiting Zimbabwe after a R70-million after-tax loss.
  • A potential number of 1 440 will be affected by Massmart's closures of DionWired and Masscash outlets and they're looking to "overhaul" its operations locally after seeing losses as high as R1.4-billion in 2019.
  • Massmart's Game Stores will be phasing out frozen foods, movies and music and focusing on clothing and apparel basics.
  • Business Tech reports further that as of February 2020, the Massmart Group will be consolidating its four divisions into two, which include Masscash, Masswarehouse, Massbuild and Massdiscounters.
  • Globally, it's worth looking back to 2010, when the FMCG industry boasted 23 of the world's top 100 brands and had increased its return to shareholders by nearly 15% a year for 45 years, performance second only to the materials industry.

Retailers to watch in 2020

Walmart
Wamart's in-store health centers are a first for a large retailer, putting "key health services under one roof." Their offerings include:
  • "primary care
  • dental
  • optometry
  • counselling
  • laboratory tests
  • X-rays
  • hearing, and
  • wellness education and behavioral health."
Sean Slovenski, president of Walmart Unites States Health and Wellness, says, "We think we can make an impactful difference in affordability, convenience and, most importantly, accessibility." 

Amazon
Amazon is aiming to become the chief grocery provider for groceries for affluent United States households, with reported plans by Seattle-based Amazon to launch a supermarket chain separate from Whole Foods.

"We anticipate that Amazon will focus on three areas to help strengthen its grocery business over the next year or two," says Bill Bishop, the chief architect at Brick Meets Click.

Carbonite.co.za
This South African online business has successfully tapped into a hidden "geek" market that is trading in loyalty points. Phillip de Wet from Business Insider South Africa, says, "Carbonite is a long-established forum built for the geek and technology-minded, so as various online tokens took off, trading among the Carbonite early adopters also became popular." 

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