Pepkor donates over R2m towards Covid-19 relief

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Article on BizCommunity

South African retailer Pepkor is supporting the fight against Covid-19 through a number of initiatives, including donating a portion of senior leadership’s salaries to relief efforts and having its clothing manufacturing division produce face masks and surgical gowns.

Pepkor, which owns Pep, Ackermans, Tekkie Town and John Craig, has the largest retail store footprint in southern Africa with more than 5,400 stores operating across 11 African countries.

R2m towards Solidarity Fund

“Pepkor realises the responsibility of business to contribute to the efforts to alleviate the impact of Covid-19 on South Africa and its citizens. We are fortunate to have a wide footprint that allows us to reach our many consumers who have loyally supported our brands over many years, and are therefore able to contribute to various causes throughout the country,” says Leon Lourens, CEO of Pepkor.

“The Pepkor executive and non-executive board members have agreed to make a remuneration sacrifice of 30% over a period of three months which together with the salary sacrifice of the Pepkor executive committee enables Pepkor to make a donation of R2m to the Solidarity Fund. Additionally, the rest of the proceeds from this will be used to donate approximately 100,000 meals through other feeding schemes which distribute to the needy and hungry throughout South Africa.”

This is in line with President Ramaphosa’s call for unified action and to support the fight against the pandemic. “The business leaders of South Africa have to step up and take the lead to help protect the needy from the devastating impact of Covid-19. So many people in South Africa are suffering now and we trust that this contribution will make a difference in the lives of those who need it most,” Lourens said.

50,000 face masks produced per day

Pepkor’s Parow-based clothing factory, Pepclo, has started manufacturing cloth face masks and surgical gowns in reaction to the significant increase in demand. The factory expects to make approximately 50,000 cloth masks per day and can scale this up significantly should the current demand remain. The masks are washable and meet government specifications with a back envelope in which replaceable filters can be secured.

“We will donate 50,000 masks to government and Pepkor will also manufacture and supply its own employees with masks for personal and work use. The health and safety of our manufacturing staff is a major focus during this time and strict safety and hygiene guidelines will be followed in the factory to ensure their safety,” Lourens said.

Pepclo will start manufacturing protective surgical gowns for hospital staff, once government has confirmed fabric specifications and Pepkor has procured these materials.

Donations towards food security

Pepkor has also set up functionality across its store base for voluntary donations from customers to The Do More Foundation, which feeds thousands of families in resource-poor communities.

“Once we are fully operational, customers can donate R2 or R5 at the till points across our footprint of more than 5,000 stores. These funds will go towards feeding the many hungry children and families in our country during these desperate times,” Lourens said.

Pepkor also donates to a number of other non-profit food distribution organisations to support the needy and hungry people in South Africa. “Pepkor is committed to assisting the South African people and government in the fight against COVID-19 and will continue to provide support where we can during this critical time for our country,” Lourens said.

Woolworths rolls out drive-through click and collect shopping service

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Article found on BizCommunity

Following a successful pilot at the Durbanville Food Store last week, Woolworths is rolling out a new contactless, click and collect drive-through shopping service to an additional 14 stores across South Africa in the coming days.

The new convenient shopping service means that Woolworths customers will have the option to do their grocery shopping without having to leave the comfort and safety of their cars.

“During these last few weeks, we have been focused on putting in place all the necessary precautions to safeguard the wellbeing of our customers and employees during the Covid-19 pandemic. We have seen an unprecedented increase in demand for our online offering during this crisis. Since the start of the lockdown, we’ve increased our capacity by over 50% but demand remains sky-high. As an example, for the Easter period, we opened up almost 2,000 additional delivery slots which were taken up in a matter of hours,” said Liz Hillock, head of online and mobile at Woolworths.

The click and collect trial service is due to launch in the following stores: Kyalami, Fourways Mall, Morningside, Broadacres, Linksfield, Farramere, The Club, Waterkloof, Ballito Junction, La Lucia, Greenacres, Palmyra Road, The Sanctuary, West Coast Mall and Plattekloof Village.

Scaleable solution

“Click and collect is a great way to scale, because it also means we don’t compromise on our difference and core qualities, that being our rigorous cold chain to keep your favourite Woolies food fresh. We’ve also integrated the service into our website, and by taking a few extra days to do this rather than a manual standalone solution, means the correct catalogue is shown for the correct store, all pricing and discounts apply, and payment is processed safely online with zero contact.

“Customers simply arrive at our store during the chosen collection window, and our assistants will greet you at the allocated click and collect parking bays and bring your groceries to your boot,” explained Hillock.

“As we roll out and refine our processes, we will open up more slots and capacity for the service.”

Covid-19 will bring about a Retail Apocalypse

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Article by Howard Saunders on BizCommunity

 

Currently we all speak from a position of absolute ignorance. No one can truly know what the outcome of this pandemic will be, nor when the virus will pass or if it will ever be defeated. Even if a vaccine is developed in the next few months it’s clear that we will forever mark this moment as one of seismic significance. From now on we will talk of pre- or post-C19.

If there’s anything positive to be wished from this, it’s that perhaps this is the socio-economic reboot we’ve all been yearning for. It’s almost biblical. The developed world has become increasingly guilt-ridden, hysterical even, over its impact on the planet, and steeped in doubt as to mankind’s purpose upon it.

In short, we grew to despise humanity and believed humans were responsible for all the planet’s ills. We became fully signed up Malthusians! Our new gods utterly despised us (Greta, Attenborough) and believed robots would do our jobs better than us.

Pre-C19 we grew hysterical over every social injustice, inherited privilege or innate bias we could hunt down or dig up. Put simply, we now have something more urgent to fret about, namely survival.

In the long term, we will learn to pull together more and it may well set our ship on a clearer course. In the short term, however, we must not underestimate the catastrophic effects it will have on twenty-first century life. Thousands of shops, pubs, restaurants, bars, cinemas, galleries and venues will close down for good.

There’s no question the retail apocalypse has arrived. Unemployment will soar as fast as our incomes decline. Nations will focus on feeding their own, rather than exports, meaning we’ll become accustomed to buying locally produced, seasonal food. Yes, globalisation died in 2020.

We’ll learn how to cook again, bake bread and home-brew. We’ll take on more DIY, learn to knit, sew and play instruments. Our renewed sense of mortality will see many of us writing diaries and journals again. In short, we’ll live simpler, dare I say more austere, lives.

As social animals the restrictions on social activity will be our greatest challenge. Months on end without family gatherings, nights out, holidays, celebrations, parties, festivals and sporting events will hit us harder than we can imagine.

But when, finally, we do emerge from this storm, consider how much we will cherish those ordinary, yet beautiful, social interactions we took for granted only a couple of weeks ago. It’s the hugs and the handshakes that give humans their humanity.

Very soon we will understand that retail and hospitality were never really about buying more stuff or filling our bellies. Our industry is all about human engagement and post-C19 I expect shops and restaurants to welcome us more warmly and sincerely than at any time since the festive period.

Sadly, as C19 proliferates, we are unlikely to be dancing and hugging in the streets as in 1945. Masks and visors will become standard dress, and restaurant staff will be obliged to wear protective gear for insurance purposes. Tables will be widely spaced and prices will have to rise accordingly. But with unemployment at 30% very few will be able to afford the luxury of dining out, so it will feel like a return to the 1960s.

We’ll learn about ourselves

The coming months will teach us a lot about ourselves. We will learn how to work remotely, how to replenish essentials online, how to write, read and entertain ourselves (We’ll also learn that bulk buying makes no sense.) Social media will undergo a much-needed reset as we become more sensitive to the vacuousness of posts and tweets that scream little more than fatuous mundanity or misplaced self-puffery. Our media will mature to reflect the age.

The global move into cities will reverse. We will have learned how to work remotely and, more importantly, what we really want from work. Cities will lose much of the thriving lunchtime market along with most of the fast-casual brands. Cities will become less about work and much more about play as we head back to the city in the evening for the choice of restaurants and the entertainment.

Celebrity culture will undergo a much-needed correction too as our moral and social hierarchies turn upside down. Hollywood will be humbled enough to stop its finger-wagging and lecturing. The BBC will follow too, if it survives.

These next few months are a period of contemplation not just for us but also for brands. Any brand waiting to bounce back to market post-C19, revved up like bloody tiger will have got it wrong. Advertising, as we currently understand it, finally died in 2020. Brands, like humans, must rethink their roles and their purpose. Legacy brands will either die or back out quietly.

Post-C19, we will expect our brands to be philanthropic, sponsoring, partnering, teaching and incubating on behalf of the local community. Brand values will shift away from self-indulgence, luxury, celebrity and narcissism towards more fundamentals such as family, home, friends and wellbeing.

Cultures don’t usually adhere to the tidy chronology of the decades. The 60s didn’t properly begin until 1964, for example. But the new age that lies ahead really did begin in early 2020. Expect everything to get a reboot, from our lacklustre music, inane superhero movies and even our egotistical urban ‘starchitecture’.

2020 is a mighty test for us all. When we do come out the other side we are sure to be more appreciative of simple pleasures, and a little more content with life on Planet Earth. Perhaps 2020 is the year of vision after all?