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1. Tesco chiefs in dock

Two former senior executives of Tesco abused their positions to encourage practices that resulted in a £250m overstatement of expected profits, a prosecutor told a London court this week. The motive, the court heard, was to support Tesco’s share price and secure huge payout packages for the executives.

2. Blockchain retailing

Europe’s largest retailer, Carrefour, has adopted blockchain technology to track and trace chicken, eggs and tomatoes as they travel from farms to stores. It plans to deploy that technology across all its fresh-product lines in coming years. This could spark a trend among other retailers.

3. Retail bloodletting

Retail CEOS are a scarce commodity. Last year, there was a 23% rate of change at retail companies in the S&P 500, up from 16% the year before, according to Conference Board’s annual study, “CEO Succession Practices”, developed in partnership with the executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles. This is more than double the industry’s average of 10.5%, according to a report in Forbes.

4. Shoppers like Shoprite

Shoprite is SA’S top retailer, with Pick n Pay and Clicks in second and third place respectively, a study shows. More than 2,700 people responded to the Sunday Times/sowetan shopper survey, now in its 11th year, conducted by research agency Kantar TNS. Makro was fourth, followed by Edgars, despite it having had a tough few years. Another struggling retailer, Woolworths, was rated sixth. Bradlows was the top furniture store.