Tag: Peter Ludi

In 2029, tokenised transactions are expected to double in value from $283 billion in 2025 to $574 billion. This market growth largely stems from the rapid rise of mobile payments, digital transformation and expanding ecommerce activity. In addition, security, personalisation and privacy continue driving adoption. While tokenisation applies easily across multiple industries, retailers increasingly use it to secure transactions.

In 2025, the retail sector had grown by 4.2% year-on-year. The e-commerce sector is expected to reach R225 billion, reflecting a 150% increase over the past five years. Omnichannel retail capabilities, supported by personalisation, customer data analytics, AI-powered recommendations and automated inventory and storage solutions, help companies gain commercial ground and customer trust in a highly competitive environment.

Everyone understands that, in order for a retailer to be competitive, it must invest in the best technology to remove friction for customers and employees. Retailers must also provide the agility and capability to take advantage of big events such as Black Friday, improve operational efficiencies, and build long-term customer loyalty. However, many retailers have discovered that a technology solution decision is far more complex than it would seem. Therefore, instead of simply adopting new technologies, they should be investing in self-enablement.

Black Friday is almost here, raising stress levels for everyone involved. Shoppers rush to find valuable deals. Retailers need to achieve sales targets to satisfy shareholders. To succeed this year, organisations must maximise their retail technology investments and offer real value and superior customer experiences.

There’s widespread acceptance that improving customer experience will go a long way towards attracting and retaining customers, especially at a time when there’s increased competition for valuable consumer spend. Naturally, all eyes turn to technology to remove friction, add convenience, automate, drive personalisation and much more.

In the wake of the rapidly evolving digital landscape, retailers are continuously confronted with a myriad of software solutions. Implementing these systems often requires a considerable investment of resources, frequently resulting in a patchwork of fragmented systems and siloed operations.

Consumers in South Africa are under immense pressure with a cascade of bad news resulting in increased prices at the till. Producer Price Inflation continues to rise, with the latest figures showing an increase from August’s 4.3% to 5.1% in September: things are going to keep becoming more expensive following higher fuel prices, a high lending rate to try to keep inflation in check and a weak, volatile Rand. Despite this, retailers have to sell goods and consumers need to buy goods.

Spurred on by unpredictable market trends, changing customer behaviours, and the rise of e-commerce, businesses are having to redefine their operations. One industry in particular feeling the weight of this change is retail.