Japan’s economy has suffered low growth and low inflation since the speculative excesses of the real estate and stock market asset price bubble burst in the late 1980s. A painful deleveraging process followed. Havoc wrought by high inflation is often well understood, but an environment of little to no inflation can be problematic as it reduces the desire to spend and invest.

In South Africa’s robust retail market, Pepkor stands out from competitors as the pre-eminent discounter. Armed with a strategic scale advantage and expansive operations, the group is positioned as a market leader in apparel, with considerable roots in other markets with growth opportunities. We delve into the key elements of Pepkor’s success, its scale advantage, the iconic PEP and Ackermans formats and the significant cellular business.

Clay, papyrus and wood were used in some of the earliest forms of packaging, but the advent of more modern formats such as paper, glass and plastics have resulted in a global industry with annual revenues currently estimated at $1.1 trillion. Packaging is a vital component of the consumer and industrial product value chain and should continue to deliver good growth in tandem with the ongoing global demand for goods.

Over the past two decades, Clicks has strategically evolved from a beauty and wellness outlet to the only fully vertically integrated health, beauty and wellness retailer in South Africa. Since the 2003 amendment to the Pharmacy Act, Clicks has amassed significant market share in pharmacy, with a widespread national footprint of 711 pharmacies from its 950 retail outlets. We explore Clicks’ competitive advantages and growth ambitions through further expansion of the store base.