Shoprite has entered into a joint venture with Takealot and Mr D

Shoprite has announced it has entered into a joint venture in which it will own 50% of RTT Group, the company which handles the last-mile logistics of its Checkers Sixty60 delivery service.

The retail giant said that the transaction follows the rapid growth of Checkers Sixty60 in which RTT On-Demand, a division of the RTT Group, has played a pivotal role in last-mile logistics.

“The transaction, which envisages Shoprite Checkers holding a 50% interest for an undisclosed sum, is subject to the fulfilment of both commercial and regulatory conditions and includes RTT’s On-Demand technology platform, management and operations teams,” Shoprite said.

The joint venture seeks to advance the technology, learnings and intellectual property Shoprite has created and enable continued development in the digital and customer experience in line with the retail giant’s ecommerce plans.

Shoprite Group CEO Pieter Engelbrecht said the transaction was in line with the retailer’s digital strategy. Owning the last-mile home delivery aspect of our Sixty60 service is an important part of building out our digital ecosystem for customers,” Engelbrecht stated.

“We consider the combined capability we have built with RTT to be a critical competitive advantage and key to Sixty60’s rapid growth.”

“This RTT On-Demand joint venture will allow the Group the opportunity to continue enhancing our order fulfilment and last-mile delivery capabilities whilst giving us the opportunity to grow our precision retailing efforts for our customers,” he added. According to Shoprite, Checkers Sixty60 is currently the number one grocery app in South Africa, with over 2 million app downloads.

RTT Group CEO Gavin Rimmer said the company’s continued relationship with the Shoprite Group brought sustainable scale, capability and technology development to RTT’s e-commerce fulfilment plans.

“It also provides customers with access to an extensive geographic network and range of service options for their on-demand needs,” Rimmer said. Engelbrecht added that Shoprite anticipated the transaction would add to the more than 4,000 jobs created by Sixty60 as it continued to grow in the communities in which it operated.

“The benefits arising from formalising this relationship with RTT On-Demand should extend beyond our customers to also include our employees, suppliers and shareholders, and we are incredibly pleased to be moving forward with our e-commerce plans on this basis,” Engelbrecht said.

Source: mybroadband