Business

Shoprite opens 262 new stores across South Africa as new brands take off

Jonathan Hoyle

 ·12 Aug 2026

Shoprite anticipates 10% earnings growth for the year ended June 2026, driven by rapid expansion in both grocery stores and new ventures.

In an operational update ahead of its full-year report, the retail giant reported a 7.2% increase in total sales volume for the 12 months ended 28 June 2026, compared with the same period a year ago.

This sales volume was largely driven by its South African supermarket operations, which recorded an increase of 15.2%

Shoprite said that its South African supermarkets are the core of its operations, and contribute approximately 84.5% to total group sales.

The business expanded its footprint across the country, opening 262 new stores in South Africa, bringing its total number of outlets to 2,839.

The group noted that its internal selling price inflation rate was 0.8% in its South African stores, considerably below South Africa’s current inflation rate.

It said that these numbers show the business’s focus on supporting affordability for South Africans, and that like-for-like sales increased by 2%.

For the Checkers and CheckersLiquorShop operations, year-on-year sales grew by 10%, while internal selling inflation reached 2%.

This business segment contributed 72 new stores to the group: 30 Checkers, 2 Checkers Hyper, and 40 Checkers LiquorShop.

Adjacent businesses and newly added ventures also saw significant growth in the last 12 months.

New store formats such as Uniq Clothing, Petshop Science, Checkers Outdoor and Little Me increased sales by 57.3%.

The company’s pet store brand, Petshop Science, expanded its footprint by 41 stores, bringing its total to 185 outlets.

Checkers Outdoor opened three new stores, and Uniq Clothing added 13 branches to its existing network.

An outlier, the baby-focused Little Me saw its footprint shrink by three locations. The group noted that this is in line with its strategy to align the brand with Checkers Hyper.

The sales growth and rapid expansion have led the business to forecast an increase in its earnings per share.

This includes an increase of between 9.7% and 14.7% in its headline earnings per share (HEPS), and the same estimated increase in its diluted HEPS.

This will result in the company’s HEPS being approximately R14.98 to R15.67, increasing from its June 2025 HEPS of R13.66.

Outside its physical operations, Shoprite saw impressive growth in its Checkers Sixty60 operations, which reported 34.5% year-on-year sales growth.

The company’s grocery delivery service totalled roughly R25.5 billion in sales volume for the year, making it a major contributor to the company’s overall success.

Shoprite is expected to release its comprehensive financial results for the year ended 28 June before 1 September 2026.

Store growth

Earnings Guidance