The final quarter of 2025 proved to be a high-stakes battlefield for South African retailers. According to the latest Ornico Retail Adspend & Trends report, retailers made a massive capital injection into visibility, with total adspend across 10 major brands reaching R1,142,758,827 between October and December.
With 122,136 ad executions (flightings) recorded, the data paints a picture of a tiered competitive landscape where grocery giants leveraged high-reach broadcast media to capture a consumer base increasingly driven by value and convenience.
The report identifies a clear dominance by the country’s largest grocery chains. Shoprite emerged as the undisputed leader in both volume and value. It invested about R200m across 21,000 executions. Its strategy balanced high-volume TV flightings with a significant investment in radio.
While Spar ranked second in spend (R180m), it had fewer executions (17,000). This discrepancy is attributed to Spar’s tactical focus on premium, high-cost slots on channels like e.tv and SABC1.
Checkers (R165m) and Pick n Pay (R160m) maintained aggressive visibility, each hovering around the 20,000-execution mark to protect market share.
Ad activity was not uniform across the quarter. While October and November saw consistent but moderate growth — particularly for Pick n Pay — December triggered a strategic divergence, with Checkers surging to 11,000 executions in December (up from 4,900 in November). Shoprite and Spar followed similar upward trajectories.
Conversely, brands like Ackermans and Clicks reduced their flightings in December. This suggests that while grocery retailers were fighting for the festive plate, fashion and pharmacy retailers opted for efficiency over volume during the peak holiday weeks.
Aggressive advertising coincided with significant corporate shifts and economic headwinds
Ornico’s data reveals that TV remains the prerequisite for retail dominance in South Africa. The report emphasises a heavy reliance on TV for broad audience reach. TV accounted for the bulk of spend and executions for all 10 brands. Retailers used radio tactically, with Shoprite being the most prominent user of the airwaves to complement its TV presence. Print remained a minor, secondary channel, suggesting that traditional paper advertising is continuing its decline in favour of dynamic broadcast and digital integration.
Aggressive advertising coincided with significant corporate shifts and economic headwinds. Shoprite, for example, reported a 9.6% sales increase to R128.6bn for the half-year. A standout was the Sixty60 app, which saw a 47.7% surge in sales.
Despite a 26% share price drop due to legacy debt, Spar launched its first “Gourmet” stores in the fourth quarter of 2025 to compete for affluent shoppers.
Boosted by its Boxer discount brand and a successful IPO, Pick n Pay saw a 4.3% turnover increase, though it continues to navigate high debt, with the breakeven target now pushed to 2028.
Woolworths faced a tale of two halves, with 11.4% growth in food but stagnant performance in fashion and home (2%) due to supply chain issues.
The report reveals a fundamental change in how South Africans shop. Facing inflation, 69% of shoppers are now hunting for specials across an average of four different stores.
Delivery apps like Checkers Sixty60, Pick n Pay ASAP! and Woolies Dash were used by 37% of shoppers in the fourth quarter, aligning with the TV ad spikes seen for these digital services.
The informal retail sector, valued at R403bn, is actively eroding formal market share, prompting major players to expand their spaza-integrated delivery models and township footprints.
The report found that success in the retail sector is no longer just about who has the most stores but who can most effectively use high-reach media to drive consumers to high-convenience digital apps.
The big take-out: Success in the retail sector is no longer just about who has the most stores but who can most effectively use high-reach media to drive consumers to high-convenience digital apps.
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