{"id":839513,"date":"2025-10-09T15:30:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T13:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=839513"},"modified":"2025-10-10T09:51:48","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T07:51:48","slug":"international-retail-giant-launching-in-south-africa-with-lower-prices-than-checkers-and-pick-n-pay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/839513\/international-retail-giant-launching-in-south-africa-with-lower-prices-than-checkers-and-pick-n-pay\/","title":{"rendered":"International retail giant launching in South Africa with lower prices than Checkers and Pick n Pay"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Walmart, the world\u2019s largest brick-and-mortar retailer, will open its first branded stores in South Africa later this year with an aggressive pricing strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walmart was founded in 1962 by brothers Sam Walton and James “Bud” Walton in Rogers, Arkansas, in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It grew from a small discount retailer in Rogers to thousands of stores in the United States and other countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, Walmart operates 10,750 stores and clubs in 19 countries and eCommerce websites. It employs approximately 2.1 million people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The retail giant is now looking to expand to South Africa, with its first branded stores set to launch in late 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kath McLay, Walmart International President and CEO, said their South African stores will offer a wide range of merchandise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The products will include fresh groceries, household essentials, apparel and technology. It will offer a variety of locally sourced products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy partnering with South African suppliers and entrepreneurs, Walmart will bring its signature Every Day Low Prices and global standards to the market,\u201d McLay said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new Walmart stores promise affordable groceries and a selection of family, home and entertainment items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith 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,\u201d McLay said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery rand matters when it comes to price. This balance of quality and everyday low prices enables us to build customer trust,\u201d said Massmart CEO Miles Van Rensburg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apart from low prices, Walmart promised an exceptional in-store experience, from a warm welcome to helpful assistance in the aisles and efficient checkout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This shows that the company has made good progress on getting ready for the launch later this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walmart promises everyday low prices to help South Africans save money<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
The first Walmart Spark in a Walmart store on African soil<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When Walmart enters a new country, it focuses on low prices, supply chain mastery, and local adaptation to gain market share.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A cornerstone of this strategy is Walmart’s Every Day Low Price (EDLP) philosophy, which aims to attract cost-conscious consumers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt Walmart, our Every Day Low Prices mean you can count on low prices today, tomorrow, next week, and the week after that,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs we open stores later this year in South Africa, we\u2019ll bring that same price discipline to the market.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It explained that with Every Day Low Prices, people can shop on their own schedule and trust that they\u2019ll always get a low price at Walmart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn a country where food security is a challenge for so many, we give customers an opportunity to take charge of their food choices,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It explained that Walmart associates continually look for opportunities to find cost savings and pass those along to its customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It will also offer Rollback offers throughout the year, which promise even lower Every Day Low Prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Walmart did not explicitly promise to offer lower prices than its competitors, like Pick ‘n Pay and Checkers, it goes without saying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walmart said it was working to keep prices low so that customers could save money when they did their weekly shopping with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simply put, Walmart indicated that a basket of products from its stores will be lower than at its competitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe take our responsibility to bring value to customers and consumers around the globe seriously,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former Shoprite CEO Whitey Basson took the Walmart threat seriously<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Former Shoprite CEO Whitey Basson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Former Shoprite CEO Whitey Basson, who created the largest retailer in Africa, took the threat of Walmart entering South Africa seriously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI planned to get Walmart off our back and prevent them from buying Pick n Pay, because that was my biggest fear,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo, I talked to the Walmart team for almost two hours to convince them that Makro was their best option.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His plan worked exactly as planned. In 2011, Walmart bought the majority stake in Massmart, which owned Makro and Game, for R16.5 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThank heavens they didn\u2019t buy Pick n Pay. That would have been a major problem,\u201d Basson said in an interview about his authorised biography by author Niel Joubert (Whitey: The Rise and Rule of the Shoprite King<\/em>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next step in Basson\u2019s plan was to ensure that Walmart would not make Makro and Game successful competitors to Shoprite and Checkers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walmart is known for its aggressive pricing, which posed a significant threat to Shoprite and other local retailers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His strategy was to keep Massmart listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), which means the company\u2019s financial performance was closely watched.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This prevented Massmart from aggressively cutting prices after the Walmart acquisition as it would have a negative short-term impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf they had come in unlisted, they could have wiped us out with discount prices. It wouldn\u2019t even have made a dent in their books,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHowever, if you\u2019re listed, and your performance is constantly analysed in the press, it hamstrings you quite a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, this time it is different. Massmart delisted from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on 22 November 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This gives Walmart the freedom to offer significantly discounted prices, which would hurt Checkers and Pick n Pay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If they do not react, Walmart will rapidly gain market share. If they react, it will negatively affect their margins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The biggest winners will be South African consumers who will get access to the world\u2019s largest discount retailer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Inside standard Walmart stores<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Walmart, the world\u2019s largest brick-and-mortar retailer, will open its first branded stores in South Africa later this year with an aggressive pricing strategy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":839524,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[8961,10387,4067,7520,2819,20403],"class_list":["post-839513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-makro","tag-massmart","tag-pick-n-pay","tag-shoprite","tag-walmart","tag-whitey-basson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=839513"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839513\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":839571,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839513\/revisions\/839571"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/839524"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=839513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=839513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=839513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}