How Checkers in South Africa is unlocking new potential

There’s a lot going on in grocery retail in South Africa right now, and it feels that a lot of the recent development has been spearheaded by Shoprite. It operates several different formats across the market, but perhaps the standout from an innovation perspective is Checkers. Its new look Checkers format is now well-established, and in fact has recently been flexed to fit within a smaller, neighbourhood style format in addition to the core supermarket format.

For us, what stands out about the format is its focus on celebrating food. Outstanding visual impact, supported by extended and innovative fresh areas, including highly impressive butchery, as well as a focus on prepared and ready to eat food, is integral to the format's success.

But its latest move takes things further.  Located in Westwood Mall, Durban, the store has a very strong focus around the needs of its local residents – in this case with an offer that is entirely halal, reflecting the needs of the community that it serves. 

We’ve not yet been to this store (it’s on the list). But earlier this week we spoke to Melina Martelli, design lead from IMS. IMS’ mantra is “we show food”, a strategy they’ve employed to great effect in their work with retailers across many markets, and they have a longstanding partnership with Shoprite in South Africa. They played a key role in bringing this ambitious and differentiated concept to life. Here’s how she explained the features:

1.        We took the core concept and supercharged the local relevance

This was such an exciting project to work on. We’ve had a fantastic relationship with Shoprite for a long time, but it was a real privilege to be asked to work on such a special project. The original idea began as a concept in the mind of the local team, and we built on the great platform we’ve developed through working with Shoprite across its store estate in South Africa. So the core themes of development around food inspiration are the same, but this project gave us the chance to execute in a different way. 

2.        Developing an enticing and differentiated food-to-go section

 

The provision of a wide range of foods for now and for later is a primary element of the Checkers format. And food-to-go is a really important part of that. 

The hot meals section is truly special. At its heart are two charcoal tandoori ovens brought directly from India, where chicken skewers, spiced vegetables, shawarma, curries, and naan bread are prepared in front of customers — bringing together authentic flavours and culinary theatre. The tandoori and shawarma stations are really great additions, relevant to the local community but potentially with much broader appeal.

3.        We changed the focus of the café

 

The research on the catchment area showed us that the customers of this store want much more from their café than just coffee. So we aimed to recreate the ambience of a  traditional Indian tea bar, where you can sip an elaichi latte as easily as a cappuccino. 

In the café section, another significant addition is the "crave truck". This combines locally relevant favourites, such as bombay cruysh milkshakes, with some of the latest online phenomena - for example chocolate coated strawberries from Borough Market. This second element is all about keeping the offer fresh in a different sense, with the ability to flex the proposition around the latest social media viral trends.

And nearby, for those who get hungry, a vintage-style candy orange food truck "The Boerie Guy" - serves the best boerewors — the iconic South African sausage from the braai tradition — all fully halal.

4.       The butchery counter is not standard

The butchery deserves a chapter of its own. Beyond Checkers’ standard high-quality proposition, it features a Lamb Corner, where customers can request their cuts from a full half-lamb, prepared to their exact preference and ready to take home. You might think this is not necessary, but the queue of 150 people for this on opening day would suggest otherwise. That for us says it all.

5.        We took the opportunity to evolve and create concepts directly relevant to the broader estate right now 

Innovation isn’t only about step changes, it’s also about iterating, and improving on what exists. This store debuts The Crispy Shack, a fried chicken, fish, and chips concept developed for a younger customer target, an area showing considerable growth right now. We refined the cooking process to achieve a lighter, crispier, more flavoursome result — what we target here is a new benchmark in quality and simplicity.

6.        And of course, we remembered the importance of fresh

We’ve seen great fresh concepts spearheading many recent global supermarket developments, and we know Gavin that you also place a lot of importance on this in supermarket design. We were keen to retain and develop this for the Westwood store. And the produce area shines bright. Here, customers can juice their own fruits or have a pineapple peeled and sliced in seconds — a nod to the Durban tradition of enjoying spicy pineapple as a family favourite.

7.        Understanding people — their values, culture, and way of life — is at the heart of great retail

In a world of increasingly demanding and diverse markets, recognising and celebrating ethnic communities is not just good business; it’s a step toward inclusion, belonging, and beauty.

Melina’s perspectives give a great feel for the concept and how it has been developed. What we find interesting is the broader opportunity around ethnic formats - we’ve seen several great examples of this in Canada for example and it feels like this is set to be a strong growth opportunity in the years ahead.