International retail giant launching in South Africa with lower prices than Checkers and Pick n Pay
Walmart, the world’s largest brick-and-mortar retailer, will open its first branded stores in South Africa later this year with an aggressive pricing strategy.
Walmart was founded in 1962 by brothers Sam Walton and James “Bud” Walton in Rogers, Arkansas, in the United States.
It grew from a small discount retailer in Rogers to thousands of stores in the United States and other countries.
Today, Walmart operates 10,750 stores and clubs in 19 countries and eCommerce websites. It employs approximately 2.1 million people.
The retail giant is now looking to expand to South Africa, with its first branded stores set to launch in late 2025.
Kath McLay, Walmart International President and CEO, said their South African stores will offer a wide range of merchandise.
The products will include fresh groceries, household essentials, apparel and technology. It will offer a variety of locally sourced products.
“By partnering with South African suppliers and entrepreneurs, Walmart will bring its signature Every Day Low Prices and global standards to the market,” McLay said.
The new Walmart stores promise affordable groceries and a selection of family, home and entertainment items.
“With sites already in development, these new stores are set to open before the end of the year, with official opening dates to be announced in October,” McLay said.
“Every rand matters when it comes to price. This balance of quality and everyday low prices enables us to build customer trust,” said Massmart CEO Miles Van Rensburg.
Apart from low prices, Walmart promised an exceptional in-store experience, from a warm welcome to helpful assistance in the aisles and efficient checkout.
Although no launch date has been announced, Massmart said the first Walmart Spark in a Walmart store on African soil was installed at 23:45 on 6 October 2025.
This shows that the company has made good progress on getting ready for the launch later this year.
Walmart promises everyday low prices to help South Africans save money
When Walmart enters a new country, it focuses on low prices, supply chain mastery, and local adaptation to gain market share.
A cornerstone of this strategy is Walmart’s Every Day Low Price (EDLP) philosophy, which aims to attract cost-conscious consumers.
“At Walmart, our Every Day Low Prices mean you can count on low prices today, tomorrow, next week, and the week after that,” it said.
“As we open stores later this year in South Africa, we’ll bring that same price discipline to the market.”
It explained that with Every Day Low Prices, people can shop on their own schedule and trust that they’ll always get a low price at Walmart.
“In a country where food security is a challenge for so many, we give customers an opportunity to take charge of their food choices,” it said.
It explained that Walmart associates continually look for opportunities to find cost savings and pass those along to its customers.
It will also offer Rollback offers throughout the year, which promise even lower Every Day Low Prices.
Although Walmart did not explicitly promise to offer lower prices than its competitors, like Pick ‘n Pay and Checkers, it goes without saying.
Walmart said it was working to keep prices low so that customers could save money when they did their weekly shopping with them.
Simply put, Walmart indicated that a basket of products from its stores will be lower than at its competitors.
“We take our responsibility to bring value to customers and consumers around the globe seriously,” it said.
Former Shoprite CEO Whitey Basson took the Walmart threat seriously
Former Shoprite CEO Whitey Basson, who created the largest retailer in Africa, took the threat of Walmart entering South Africa seriously.
Bason said that fifteen years ago, Walmart wanted to enter the South African market, forcing him to outsmart them to ensure they did not threaten his company.
Walmart was interested in buying Shoprite, but it was not for sale. However, he said if Walmart were to buy Pick n Pay, it could make their life very difficult.
“I planned to get Walmart off our back and prevent them from buying Pick n Pay, because that was my biggest fear,” he said.
“So, I talked to the Walmart team for almost two hours to convince them that Makro was their best option.”
His plan worked exactly as planned. In 2011, Walmart bought the majority stake in Massmart, which owned Makro and Game, for R16.5 billion.
“Thank heavens they didn’t buy Pick n Pay. That would have been a major problem,” Basson said in an interview about his authorised biography by author Niel Joubert (Whitey: The Rise and Rule of the Shoprite King).
The next step in Basson’s plan was to ensure that Walmart would not make Makro and Game successful competitors to Shoprite and Checkers.
Walmart is known for its aggressive pricing, which posed a significant threat to Shoprite and other local retailers.
His strategy was to keep Massmart listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), which means the company’s financial performance was closely watched.
This prevented Massmart from aggressively cutting prices after the Walmart acquisition as it would have a negative short-term impact.
“If they had come in unlisted, they could have wiped us out with discount prices. It wouldn’t even have made a dent in their books,” he said.
“However, if you’re listed, and your performance is constantly analysed in the press, it hamstrings you quite a bit.”
However, this time it is different. Massmart delisted from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on 22 November 2022.
This gives Walmart the freedom to offer significantly discounted prices, which would hurt Checkers and Pick n Pay.
If they do not react, Walmart will rapidly gain market share. If they react, it will negatively affect their margins.
The biggest winners will be South African consumers who will get access to the world’s largest discount retailer.
Inside standard Walmart stores
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