South Africa

Retail volume growth of toilet care in South Africa slowed in 2023 compared to the previous year. The country witnessed high-scale inflation, shifting a change in consumer behaviour. This was in addition to increasing costs of transport, fuel and…

Purchases of surface care in South Africa are included in many consumers’ grocery shopping budgets. In 2023, food inflation peaked at double digits, limiting affordability, in addition to a further rise in unit prices of surface care. This scenario…

Polishes in South Africa recorded positive retail value growth in 2023, despite another fall in overall demand. The growth in value was attributable to the rapidly rising inflation rate. With higher unit prices of polishes, local consumers continued…

Laundry care in South Africa recorded a flat performance in 2023, although the largest category of laundry detergents continued to experience rising demand, a trend supported by a marginal decline in the average unit price. Laundry care in the…

Demand for home insecticides in South Africa continued to rise in 2023, with the country experiencing a surge in the presence and number of German cockroaches. Climate change oriented around wet and humid summers earlier in the year perpetuated the…

Overall demand for home care in South Africa remained stable in 2023, despite some variations in performance across the categories. While there may be a difference between high-income and low-income individuals in South Africa, the impact of elevated…

Overall demand for dishwashing in South Africa continued to rise in 2023, supported by both automatic dishwashing and the dominant hand washing format. The number of dishwashers owned pre-pandemic when compared to after the lockdowns in South Africa…

Demand for bleach in South Africa remained stable in 2023, with some consumers choosing this more affordable alternative to surface care due to the impact of inflation on disposable incomes. However, inflationary pressures resulted in category leader…

Demand for air care in South Africa continued to rise in 2023, albeit with marginally slower volume sales growth compared to the previous year, as the country experienced a surge in inflation. This contributed to higher company revenues and profits…

In 2023, vending in South Africa continued to recover from the negative impact of lockdown restrictions, which mainly affected machines located in semi-captive environments, leading to the bankruptcy of many small businesses operating within the…

After a relatively strong performance during the pandemic, due to lockdown restrictions, supermarkets in South Africa once again benefited in 2023 from consumers’ renewed focus on essential products due to economic pressures. The channel’s…

With relatively low bargaining power, small local grocers in South Africa have become more exposed to the persisting inflationary pressure since they often source their products from wholesalers. The latter tend to have higher markups in comparison…

In 2023, the retail landscape in South Africa remained challenged by the operating environment, translating into slow economic growth, which left unemployment at a relatively high level. As inflation remained above the South African Reserve Bank…

In 2023, sales via e-commerce in South Africa continued to benefit from a steady decline in the price of connectivity, which allowed a higher number of consumers to access the service at affordable prices. For instance, the price of 1G broadband has…

The number of hypermarkets operating in South Africa continued to decline in 2023. The trend emerged just prior to the pandemic due to cautious investments in the wake of economic uncertainty in the country. This scenario was exacerbated by lockdown…

Home products specialists in South Africa continued to record a fairly weak performance in 2023. From one of the lowest interest rates imposed by the South African Reserve Bank during the pandemic, mortgage rates continued to skyrocket in 2023 as the…

After being affected by restrictive lockdown restrictions, which resulted in the imposition of face masks and limited social gatherings, beauty specialists in South Africa are now benefiting from consumers’ revived routines, including returning to…

Lockdown restrictions imposed on shopping centres during the pandemic were particularly challenging for department stores in South Africa, which often occupy prime rentals in such locations. For Woolworths, the situation was worsened by civil unrest…

In 2023, discounters in South Africa continued to record dynamic growth across all indicators. Despite decelerated food inflation, estimated at an average of 8.5% over 2023 as a whole compared to a 14-year high of 14.4% in March, South African…

In 2023, direct selling in South Africa remained subject to challenging operating environments. Despite some stabilising of value sales following three consecutive years of decline as a result of the pandemic, there was still lower demand for certain…