The mistake that made Checkers Sixty60 a success

Checkers Sixty60 has gone from strength to strength in South Africa, giving people the illusion that its rollout was flawlessly executed and destined for success. 

Shoprite CEO Pieter Engelbrecht said the reality is starkly different, with the company being a latecomer to eCommerce in South Africa and experiencing significant challenges in the rollout of Sixty60.

The key reason for the success of Sixty60 was Shoprite’s ability to rectify its mistakes and shortcomings quickly to develop the product that millions of people engage with today. 

Engelbrecht’s comments came after Shoprite released its financial results for the 26 weeks ended 28 December 2025, which revealed strong growth for Sixty60. 

Shoprite expanded its on-demand delivery footprint significantly, increasing it to 875 stores nationwide – up by nearly 300 stores in a single year. 

The retailer said that Checkers Sixty60 sales increased by 34.6% to R11.9 billion during the six months, with total Supermarkets South Africa sales up 7.1% to R115.3 billion. 

Checkers Sixty60 sales figures now include Sixty60 delivery recoveries and Xtra Savings Plus subscription income following the purchase of the remaining 50% of Pingo Delivery. 

The strong growth of the offering gives the impression that it has been flawless and perhaps easy for Shoprite to deliver such a service. However, this is not the case. 

“We also make mistakes. It did not start out all that great. We were late entrants into eCommerce and the omnichannel world,” Engelbrecht explained to Business Day TV.

“So when we started, we began the traditional way. With three fulfilment centres across the country, trying to service everybody from that footprint.”

This proved to be a mistake, with it being extremely difficult to service a dispersed client base from a few highly concentrated fulfilment centres. 

“We realised that it was a mistake. There is one thing Shoprite does, and that is, we fail fast. This thing was not going to work like that,” Engelbrecht said. 

“What we thought at the time was our Achilles heel, in terms of our store footprint, became our advantage over time.”

“We are a corporate business, and we own our stores, and we have real-time systems. That enabled us to fulfil deliveries from the store. That is the big difference.” 

Engelbrecht explained that being able to fulfil orders from a store enables Shoprite to leverage its 3,000-store-strong network and gain access to 90% of the addressable market almost immediately. 

Checkers Sixty60 secrets

Over time, Checkers Sixty60 benefitted immensely from Shoprite’s existing distribution network and last-mile efficiency from its stores. 

This has enabled the offering to defy all market sceptics, including those who thought retail could not be disrupted in South Africa and others who assumed its popularity was momentary amidst a global pandemic. 

It has historically been the case that retail in South Africa has slowly evolved without drastic changes, with the end-point being the increasing penetration of lower-income segments with enhanced efficiency. 

An example of this slow evolution is proven by the fact that South Africa’s oldest retail store, Thrupp’s, is still operating largely on the same model it opened with in 1892. 

Melville Douglas senior research analyst, Lieketseng Pitse, explained that Checkers Sixty60 is a rare case of a product growing rapidly while also improving its performance. 

Pitse said this is a testament to Shoprite’s excellent management team and ability to quickly correct mistakes or shortcomings. 

While much of the focus has been on Sixty60’s improving product offering, little attention has been paid to the behind-the-scenes improvements in store infrastructure and distribution channels. 

Not only has this investment improved Sixty60’s delivery times, but it is also bearing fruit in terms of enhanced product offerings and reduced operating costs. 

Shoprite’s chief of strategy and innovation, Neil Schreuder, has previously said that the company’s distribution and shop network are its biggest advantages in the eCommerce battle. 

“Ten years ago, brick-and-mortar retailers thought their large real estate and footprint would be their Achilles heel,” he said.

With a much smaller footprint and centralised distribution centres, online players seemed to have an advantage.

However, as Engelbrecht said, Shoprite’s store network became its greatest advantage, with it being able to weaponise its footprint and proximity to customers.