Consumer sovereignty

We put customers at the heart of our business. This philosophy permeates everything that we do, from how we treat our customers to how we design our stores. Every customer is different and their needs are constantly changing. Putting the customer first means we work hard to understand them and how we can serve them better. We are focused on delivering good quality at great prices; improving the shopping experience and fighting for the consumer in the public sphere. We serve our customers in a variety of store formats that are appropriate to their shopping needs. We focus on customer service. We appeal broadly across society, exclude no-one and seek to move hand-in-hand with the changing needs and aspirations of our customers.

Business efficiency

We negotiate the lowest possible prices from over 7 000 suppliers and service providers and transport, store and display our products as efficiently as possible to keep costs to a minimum. Our focus on centralisation has increased our business efficiency. The scale of our business allows us to give our suppliers sufficient volume so that they can plan and manage their operations to reduce their costs. Our scale also allows us to spread our fixed costs over substantial volumes, reducing our unit costs. By becoming more efficient we are able to reinvest in improving the customer experience, ensuring we stay true to our first principle of consumer sovereignty, thereby increasing turnover and in turn enabling us to run a more efficient business.

Doing good is good business

Customers reward those businesses that they believe are at the heart of society and who give back to the communities they serve. As customers reward us with their loyalty, we are able to grow, serve more customers, generate more jobs, and help more communities – whether by supporting local groups during times of crisis, helping to develop local suppliers and small businesses, tackling societal challenges like obesity and climate change, or building the capacity of our youth and women to contribute meaningfully to society.

We believe that we will benefit in the future through our
generosity today. As we build our business outside South Africa,
this is the ethos that drives our investment in those countries.