MNG3701
Assignment 2
Semester 2
2023
QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS
[School]
[Course title]
, MNG3701 Assignment 2 Semester 2 2023
SPAR Group SPAR, the ‘quiet upstart from Durban’ has shaken up the retail
industry. SPAR was born from an idea by Adriaan van Well, who felt that
independent wholesalers and retailers could work and prosper together
through a voluntary trading model. The first SPAR store opened in the
Netherlands in 1932 and was initially called DE SPAR, an acronym used to
describe the organisation: Door Eendrachtig Samenwerken Profiteren Allen
Regelmatig, which translates into English as ‘all benefit from joint co-
operation’. After rebranding as “SPAR’, the brand expanded into Belgium
and by the end of the 1950s, signalled its intention to move beyond Europe.
SPAR South Africa was established in 1963 by a group of eight wholesalers to
service 500 small retailers. By 2003, SPAR South Africa had grown through a
series of mergers and takeovers to become one consolidated wholesaler
controlling the rights to the SPAR brand as well the following brands:
SAVEMOR (launched 1975), KWIKSPAR (launched 1990), SUPERSPAR
(launched 1998), Build it (Building materials brand, launched 1985) and
TOPS at SPAR (liquor brand, launched 2000). SPAR continued with its
growth and in 2011, introduced Pharmacy at SPAR and SPAR Express
(convenience stores at petrol stations). Today, SPAR has expanded into
Switzerland, Sri Lanka and Ireland. According to the 2021 integrated report,
SPAR Southern Africa comprises eight distribution centres, employs 4 476
staff and offers 2 440 retail stores (including food, liquor, building materials
and pharmaceuticals). Countries served include Lesotho, Botswana, Malawi,
Zimbabwe, MNG3701/101/3/2023 31 Seychelles, Namibia, Mozambique and
Eswatini. The SPAR operating context 2021 has proven to be a challenging
year across the board. SPAR refers to the two black swan events – the onset of
the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020, which continued to disrupt all the
groups’ markets, and the civil unrest in South Africa during July 2021. The
events were shocking and sad, and SPAR reacted quickly to the initial
violence by closing all distribution centres considered to be at risk. The 2021
financial year also welcomed a new CEO and executive director, Brett Botten.
Brett has many years’ experience with SPAR and his first priority is to deliver
a much-improved performance in the year ahead. During 2021, SPAR
partnered with Naveo Commerce to develop a unique end-to-end e-commerce
platform which would be piloted in South Africa. The ecommerce platform
Assignment 2
Semester 2
2023
QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS
[School]
[Course title]
, MNG3701 Assignment 2 Semester 2 2023
SPAR Group SPAR, the ‘quiet upstart from Durban’ has shaken up the retail
industry. SPAR was born from an idea by Adriaan van Well, who felt that
independent wholesalers and retailers could work and prosper together
through a voluntary trading model. The first SPAR store opened in the
Netherlands in 1932 and was initially called DE SPAR, an acronym used to
describe the organisation: Door Eendrachtig Samenwerken Profiteren Allen
Regelmatig, which translates into English as ‘all benefit from joint co-
operation’. After rebranding as “SPAR’, the brand expanded into Belgium
and by the end of the 1950s, signalled its intention to move beyond Europe.
SPAR South Africa was established in 1963 by a group of eight wholesalers to
service 500 small retailers. By 2003, SPAR South Africa had grown through a
series of mergers and takeovers to become one consolidated wholesaler
controlling the rights to the SPAR brand as well the following brands:
SAVEMOR (launched 1975), KWIKSPAR (launched 1990), SUPERSPAR
(launched 1998), Build it (Building materials brand, launched 1985) and
TOPS at SPAR (liquor brand, launched 2000). SPAR continued with its
growth and in 2011, introduced Pharmacy at SPAR and SPAR Express
(convenience stores at petrol stations). Today, SPAR has expanded into
Switzerland, Sri Lanka and Ireland. According to the 2021 integrated report,
SPAR Southern Africa comprises eight distribution centres, employs 4 476
staff and offers 2 440 retail stores (including food, liquor, building materials
and pharmaceuticals). Countries served include Lesotho, Botswana, Malawi,
Zimbabwe, MNG3701/101/3/2023 31 Seychelles, Namibia, Mozambique and
Eswatini. The SPAR operating context 2021 has proven to be a challenging
year across the board. SPAR refers to the two black swan events – the onset of
the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020, which continued to disrupt all the
groups’ markets, and the civil unrest in South Africa during July 2021. The
events were shocking and sad, and SPAR reacted quickly to the initial
violence by closing all distribution centres considered to be at risk. The 2021
financial year also welcomed a new CEO and executive director, Brett Botten.
Brett has many years’ experience with SPAR and his first priority is to deliver
a much-improved performance in the year ahead. During 2021, SPAR
partnered with Naveo Commerce to develop a unique end-to-end e-commerce
platform which would be piloted in South Africa. The ecommerce platform
