{"id":518878,"date":"2021-09-07T16:43:28","date_gmt":"2021-09-07T14:43:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=518878"},"modified":"2021-09-07T16:43:28","modified_gmt":"2021-09-07T14:43:28","slug":"checkers-is-building-something-quite-remarkable-and-far-bigger-than-its-competitors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/technology\/518878\/checkers-is-building-something-quite-remarkable-and-far-bigger-than-its-competitors\/","title":{"rendered":"Checkers is building something quite remarkable – and far bigger than its competitors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Checkers\u2019 60-minute grocery delivery service, Checkers <\/span>Sixty60,<\/span> launched at the most opportune time: mere months before South Africa was sent into a mandatory lockdown in early 2020.<\/span><\/p>\n

With the entire population confined to their homes, <\/span>this led to a shift in consumer behavioural patterns and forced <\/span>the acceleration of online shopping, most notably the buying of essential products such as food and beverages, cosmetics and medicines.<\/p>\n

The retailer said that Checkers Sixty60<\/span> was created to fulfil the need in the market for a fast and reliable on-demand grocery delivery service and has <\/span>outperformed all initial estimates, having been rolled out to 233 stores, an increase of 146 stores over the past year alone.
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The largest private employer in South Africa, Shoprite employs 142,602<\/span><\/span> people. It said it created <\/span><\/span>3,897 <\/span><\/span><\/strong>new jobs over the past year, including the creation of 2,870<\/strong> Sixty60<\/span> <\/span>related posts and 3,584<\/strong> jobs since its launch in November 2019.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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The Covid-19 pandemic has pushed Shoprite forward digitally, and the group is looking at several tech-focused innovations in the future, said chief executive Pieter Engelbrecht.<\/p>\n

Speaking on the group’s annual results for the 53 weeks to 4 July 2021, Engelbrecht said that Shoprite has adopted a ‘single system of record’ IT system, enabling employees to become increasingly collaborative and innovative.<\/p>\n

“In addition to transforming how we operate, our IT re-platforming has facilitated and fast-tracked our transformation as part of our digital and data-led future strategy,” he said.<\/p>\n

“The group has recently unveiled ShopriteX, our digital tech hub which blends the best of data science, technology and digital talent to save customers time and money through innovation.”<\/p>\n

After a year of incubation, Engelbrecht said that ShopriteX already boasts two industry-leading innovations:<\/p>\n