Clicks takes fight to spaza shops with KwaMakhi

By Palesa Matlala

• Clicks has launched its first KwaMakhi store in Tembisa and plans to have 10 smaller township-focused outlets open by year end.

• Clicks is spending R30-million on the first 10 KwaMakhi stores, selling everyday essentials in smaller packs for customers with tighter budgets.

Clicks is coming for a bigger slice of township spending with smaller stores designed to compete for customers who normally shop at spaza shops and discount retailers.

The health, wellness, baby and beauty giant has launched a new store format called KwaMakhi.

The first KwaMakhi store has opened in Tembisa in Gauteng.

More stores are planned for Khayelitsha and Cravenby in the Western Cape as Clicks tests whether the new format can become a major part of its business.

The company wants 10 KwaMakhi stores operating by the end of the year.

Clicks has put R30-million into the first 10 stores.

KwaMakhi stores will be much smaller than normal Clicks outlets.

Instead of trying to carry the same wide range of products found in bigger stores, KwaMakhi will focus on everyday goods that people regularly need.

These include baby products, personal care products, beauty products, household goods and healthcare products sold without going through a pharmacy.

Smaller packs will be an important part of the plan.

This is aimed at customers who may not have enough cash to buy larger packs in one shopping trip and instead buy smaller amounts more often.

That puts KwaMakhi directly into a market where convenience and affordability are important.

It also gives Clicks a way to reach communities where opening one of its normal stores may not make business sense.

Clicks Chief Executive Officer Bertina Engelbrecht said the company had identified about 2,000 possible locations that could not support its traditional store format.

KwaMakhi gives the retailer a smaller option for some of those areas.

The move means Clicks will be fighting for customers in neighbourhoods already served by spaza shops and discount retailers.

Instead of depending only on large shopping centres and its traditional outlets, the company can use KwaMakhi to move closer to where customers live and shop.

For shoppers, the battle could mean another option when buying basic household, baby, beauty and personal care products.

For Clicks, the first 10 stores will be an important test.

The R30-million pilot will show whether the smaller format can attract enough customers and work in areas where traditional Clicks stores are not suitable.

The company already has bigger ambitions if the experiment succeeds.

Clicks believes KwaMakhi could eventually become an important source of growth for the group.

And those ambitions may not stop at South Africa’s borders.

The retailer said the KwaMakhi model could eventually provide opportunities for expansion beyond South Africa.

For now, all eyes will be on the first stores as Clicks tests whether its smaller shops can win over township consumers and grab a bigger share of their everyday spending.

Pictured above: Clicks store.

Image source: Supplied.