{"id":841386,"date":"2025-10-30T08:35:15","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T06:35:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=841386"},"modified":"2025-10-30T08:35:21","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T06:35:21","slug":"retail-giant-opening-new-stores-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/841386\/retail-giant-opening-new-stores-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Retail giant opening new stores in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dis-Chem plans to expand its retail network across South Africa, with big plans for its new rewards programme<\/strong><\/a> as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the six-month period from 1 March 2025 to 31 August 2025, Dis-Chem saw group revenue growth of 8.7% to R21.3 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Retail revenue grew by 8.3% to R18.1 billion, with comparable pharmacy revenue growth at 5.4%. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the period, 17 retail pharmacy stores were opened, resulting in 203 retail pharmacy stores and 44 retail baby stores. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Continued acceleration of space identification and new store openings are planned for the near future, the group said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This includes 20 new stores already trading in FY2026, and 32 retail pharmacy stores are planned for the year.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group is pushing a brand transition from being a retail pharmacy and healthcare store into an integrated primary healthcare provider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, its new outlets will have a ‘store of the future’ design to facilitate omnichannel retailing and healthcare delivery.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The stores will incorporate \u201cecosystem elements aligned to brand architecture,\u201d with the first store trading in Q1 FY2027. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On top of its retail revenue, the group\u2019s wholesale grew by 11.1% to R16.8 billion. Wholesale revenue to its own retail stores, its largest contributor, grew by 10.9%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

External revenue to independent pharmacies and the Local Choice (TLC) franchises grew by 11.6% over the period. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Independent pharmacy growth stood at 7.9% and was attributable to both new customers and increased support from the current base. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

TLC growth was 16.5% due to a combination of an increase in TLC franchise stores from 221 to 258 and an increase in support of the supply chain from existing franchisees. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wholesale business now services 1,608 independently owned pharmacies, representing about 85% of the independently owned pharmacy market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New rewards <\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The Group added that launching its new loyalty programme, Better Rewards, marks the next stage of increasing access to healthcare and reducing its cost. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis programme reimagines how loyalty can empower participation in a healthcare ecosystem, unlocking tangible value that customers can reinvest in their health.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSupported by a broader portfolio of healthcare and financial services, Better Rewards is designed to compound good health decisions over time, rewarding individuals for the proactive management of their wellbeing and chronic conditions.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group said that X, bigly labs by Dis-Chem, serves as the engine behind the rewards system change. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group said that the team applies technology, data and customer insights to solve complex challenges. The launch of Better Rewards is also a proof point of innovation in action. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Via its rewards programme, customers are rewarded for filling their scripts and adhering to chronic treatments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This reinforces the focus on prevention and protection rather than reaction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBetter Rewards demonstrates how our purpose, technology, and scale combine to make quality healthcare more affordable, more accessible and more human,\u201d the group said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking at the key financials, basic earnings per share (EPS) saw a 9.6% increase to 73.9 cents. Basic headline earnings per share rose to 73.8 cents per share, a 9.0% increase. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group\u2019s interim dividend was also upped by 9% to 26.98 cents per share.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Metric<\/th>6 months to 31 Aug 2025<\/th>6 months to 31 Aug 2024<\/th>% Change<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Group revenue<\/td>R21.3 billion<\/td>R19.6 billion<\/td>8.7%<\/td><\/tr>
Earnings per share<\/td>73.9 cents<\/td>67.4 cents<\/td>9.6%<\/td><\/tr>
Headline earnings per share<\/td>73.8 cents<\/td>67.7 cents<\/td>9.0%<\/td><\/tr>
Dividend declared per share<\/td>29.42 cents<\/td>26.98 cents<\/td>9.0%<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dis-Chem is planning to open more retail stores in the 2026 financial year, with big plans for its new rewards programme as well.\u00a0 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":828961,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[11649],"class_list":["post-841386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-dis-chem"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841386","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\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=841386"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841386\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":841394,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841386\/revisions\/841394"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/828961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=841386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=841386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=841386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}