Spar Group yesterday said it had improved its online offering through an updated Spar2U App, which had just been launched, as it said in a trading update that it had delivered a robust trading performance for the 18 weeks ended January 28, 2023.
The grocery retailer said its on demand shopping platform for groceries and liquor, Spar2U continued to gain momentum among retailers and customers.
“Having launched its pilot phase during the prior comparative period, Spar2U ramped up its availability to 201 sites at the end of the period and consumer feedback has been extremely positive. An improved offering is now available through an updated Spar2U App, which has just been launched,” it said.
Spar has needed to grow its online offering as it competes with its rivals stronger delivery offerings such as Checkers Sixty60, Pick n Pay's ASAP! and Woolies Dash.
In its trading update, the grocer said it achieved total sales growth of 7.4% in the reported period and saw its turnover increasing by 7.8%,
“Total sales in southern Africa increased by 7.4% impacted by soft liquor sales growth during the period. The business has made good progress with its accelerated growth plan. This business continues to be impacted by fuel, energy and other inflationary cost pressures, but has benefited from the installation of solar plants across all its distribution centres,” it said.
Spar’s wholesale grocery business reported sales growth of 9.7% compared to a 3.7% increase in 2022.
“This performance is encouraging as this is reported against internally measured price inflation of 9.9%, with a solid performance across both dry and perishable groceries,” the group said.
Tops at Spar liquor sales increased by 1.6%, primarily impacted by the high level of sales experienced in the prior comparative period, due to the pandemic-related liquor restrictions ceasing in 2021.
“While trading appears muted, the performance is against a high base effect seen in the prior comparative period, growth of 55.8%, which benefited from the Covid-19 liquor trading restrictions being lifted in September 2021. Comparing the last month of the period, January 2023 against January 2022, liquor turnover increased by 10.0%,” it said.
The pharmaceutical business, S Buys Pharmacy at Spar, delivered strong sales performances by both Pharmacy at Spar and Scriptwise (specialised pharmacy), delivering 18.1% turnover growth for the period, the group said.
Despite the demand for building materials continuing to slow, Build It delivered a credible performance, albeit with sales declining by 2.8%.
“The building sector remains under pressure, which has been exacerbated further by electricity load shedding and rising inflation. Build It’s decline in turnover of 2.8% should be viewed as a credible performance against this backdrop. Build It continues to hold its number one position for building materials in southern Africa,” Spar said.
The group said the BWG group, which is Ireland and South West England, increased turnover by 8.9% for the period in EUR terms, and 11.1% in ZAR terms.
“This is an excellent trading performance, boosted by strong performances in Ireland across all Retail brands and a full recovery in the hospitality sector which was restricted in December 2021 due to a new variant of Covid-19,” it said.
Spar said the turnover for the Swiss business declined by 3.8% in CHF terms and increased by 4.4% in rand terms, against the prior comparative period.
“The decline in turnover was exaggerated by the transfer of a group of corporate stores to independent retailers over the course of 2022 and the subsequent loss of retail turnover from these stores in the period versus the prior comparative period,” the group said.
Spar said it would publish its financial results for the six months ending March 31, 2023, will be published on or about June 14.
BUSINESS REPORT