Walmart vows to help South Africa save

WALMART, which is in the throes of finalising its takeover of Massmart, fired another salvo on the price-cutting front, just in time for the back-to-school rush.

The world’s biggest retailer and Massmart on Friday announced that its latest extended price-cutting promotion will begin today, covering a wide mix of merchandise, including school clothing and printers. The retailers said the previous two promotions had already saved consumers more than R100 million. Today’s special offer, which runs until March, illustrates Walmart’s shrewd merchandising strategy, coming at a time when most consumers are under financial strain following wild spending over the recent festive season. According to Massmart chief executive Grant Pattison, this once again reflects the high priority that Massmart-Walmart places on the South African consumer, starting by extending competitive pricing in order to generate savings for ordinary South Africans. ‘The Walmart perspective is that the customer is number one and the intensity with which they drive this focus is quite remarkable and permeates their approach to everything,’ said Pattison. ‘An early Walmart success has been their ability to relentlessly challenge our buyers to become even more focused and energised to deliver and, more importantly, measure opportunities that they have identified to save customers money,’ he added. Walmart’s takeover of Massmart is currently bogged down at the Competition Appeal Court after unions and the government objected to it on the grounds that it would lead to job losses, a claim that both Massmart and Walmart denied. A ruling on the appeal is expected by the end of January. – iol.co.za

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