Famous Brands wants slice of takeaway action
THERE ARE TWO THEMES IN BLACK FRIDAY: CONSUMERS WANT DEALS ON BASIC ITEMS, AND THEY WANT TO TREAT THEMSELVES
If any more evidence is needed that the future of food and retail is digital, and that SA consumers are under pressure, Famous Brands is scrambling to get its Wimpy app up and running before the peak summer holiday season.
Being consumer-facing is becoming more important in the food business, and the country’s weak economy is helping accelerate a global trend towards online ordering.
Famous Brands reports that consumers are shifting to deliveries, and away from dine-in experiences, as they seek better value propositions, hence it is prioritising its Wimpy App.
With the upcoming December holidays, and Black Friday in particular, SA’s consumers, especially those with access to the internet, are expected to use technology for bargain hunting. Pick n Pay reports that in 2018, pantry items were most popular during Black Friday, closely followed by televisions and beer.
The retailer says there are two clear themes in Black Friday: consumers want deals on basic items, and they want to treat themselves. Popular items include long-life milk, sugar, coffee, rice, washing powder and toilet paper, says Pick n Pay, and it has launched online-only deals for the weeks leading up to Black Friday.
Another retailer reporting that consumers want deals on basic items, while still being ready to treat themselves, is Distell, which says consumers are shifting to harder liquor to get more bang for their buck.
The owner of Three Ships Whisky and Nederburg wines even reports some of its highervalue wines are also doing well.
NASPERS WANTS TO SWALLOW UK’S JUST EAT
How much is Africa’s largest technology investor willing to spend to achieve world domination in the online food delivery market to ultimately beat out giants such as Uber Eats?
In what is perhaps its biggest deal to date, Naspers, through its subsidiary Prosus, has bid to buy out UK-based food delivery company Just Eat for £4.9bn (R92.6bn), a staggering amount by any measure.
If successful, Prosus would finance the all-cash offer through debt from lenders such as JP Morgan Chase. Then it would have to spend more to beef up Just Eat’s ability to process orders, attract new customers and gain more restaurant partners.
At the end of the last financial year, Naspers had about $6bn (R88bn) in cash, a portion of which will likely be used to finance Just Eat’s expansion.
This may be an expensive endeavour as Just Eat still has some way to catch up to Uber’s food delivery service.
In 2018, Just Eat processed £4.2bn (R79.3bn) in orders on its platform in the UK.
Uber Eats, on the other hand, had $2.6bn (R38bn) in gross bookings for the last quarter of 2018 alone.
Perhaps listing its international assets in Europe was a strategic move by Bob van Dijk’s team to allow for such large transactions.