Sometimes it takes an outsider to allow South Africans to recognise the positives in their own country.
In the retail space, the massive investments being made into one-hour grocery deliveries and “experience stores” are often pointed out as examples of retailers fighting for market share, for relevance, or even just for survival.
Jeff Warren, vice president for global retail sales at software giant Oracle, sees it differently. Speaking to us during the recent Oracle CloudWorld 2024 conference in Las Vegas, shortly after a visit to South Africa, he enthused about the sector.
“South Africa has unique challenges. There are the obvious challenges around currency and talent and investment. Sometimes the ports aren’t always as efficient as my retail friends would want them to be. And the metrics by which they get measured sometimes change. Due to loadshedding we had several programmes where they had to push back six, nine months, because my retail partners had to prioritise getting generators into the stores and keeping the lights on and keeping a safe environment for their customers.
“But what I’ve seen consistently is the optimism and the willingness to invest. To say okay, these are all temporary, or these are all obstacles that can be overcome, because the potential of South Africa in that market is there. The belief that there’s going to continue to be growth in that market, is a shared optimism that I see with the customers that we serve.”
This applies equally to technology investment and store innovation, such as the massive upgrades that have turned many South African retail outlets into an “experience”, where shopping is almost a by-product.
Major Oracle retail customers in South Africa include Woolworths, Cape Union Mart, Mr Price and Ackermans, giving Warren a unique insight when comparing these to global clients. The reality, he says, is that they all think globally.
“There’s a really robust community of retailers in South Africa that are part of the larger Oracle global user community. The head of our merchandising user group is from Mr. Price, and she leads the global community. So South African retail is very well-plugged in with what’s going on globally.”
This has a direct impact on retail operations.
“Historically, the way that the retail community would have attacked its challenges was to have somebody locally here in South Africa that can implement a system for us. Covid changed that to the idea that you can tap into a global network of people in a global workforce and successfully help transform businesses. They realise that talent can be anywhere in the world, and if you can leverage that talent to help develop those skills locally, there’s growth potential.
“We’re doing a massive transformation across merchandising and supply chain for one of the largest retailers In South Africa, where the programme manager is in the UK, the executive sponsor is in France, the product team is in the US, and part of the project team is in South Africa. The project has met every milestone and has exceeded the C-suite’s expectations in terms of being able to deliver and stay on schedule.”
The retailers are not only optimistic about growth in South Africa, but also about the potential of technology.
“What’s exciting for me is the investment that I’m seeing these retailers making going forward, as we learn about what AI can do for our business, as we learn about the possibility of better visibility and transparency of data, what that can do for our business, that means there’s new skills that are required within our organisation.
“There’s a real commitment to invest in developing those skills and competencies locally, to grow that talent base and be able to leverage and learn from a global perspective.”
* Arthur Goldstuck is CEO of World Wide Worx and editor-in-chief of Gadget.co.za. Follow him on social media on @art2gee.