Menswear retailer John Craig is set to go online, taking on established local players such as The Foschini Group.
The retailer, which recently opened a new store in Centurion, says it will start trading online next year.
A subsidiary of Pepkor, John Craig was founded in 1947, in Johannesburg, as a family-owned men's outfitter. It now has over 100 stores in SA, six of which were opened in the past three months, and several other outlets are in the pipeline, the company says.
CEO Lily Moreira says online shopping data will give the retailer a better understanding of its customers and assist with the expansion in the territories.
John Craig will rely on Pepkor Group's internal expertise "to assist and develop the digital strategy", and will employ a brand digital manager to oversee the Web site and all digital platforms.
Emerging young shoppers
A study by local research firm World Wide Worx found online retail in SA is due to pass the R14 billion mark in 2018 as e-commerce begins to go mainstream.
Online retail is projected to reach 1.4% of total retail sales, based on an estimated R1 trillion to be spent via traditional channels in 2018. John Craig's targets are aggressive; in the next two years, it expects online to deliver at least 10% to the sales.
Pepkor's turnover was 10.9% higher in the past financial year. Announcing the results on 26 November, the group credited John Craig with reporting "stellar performance".
"The overall business strategy is starting to see excellent results, and with that comes the need to look at omni- or multi-channel platforms, which stem from the power of social media," says Moreira. "This leads to an integrated e-commerce platform to create an anytime, anywhere store."
The company is targeting emerging young shoppers with disposable income in a bid to broaden its customer base.
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