Retail

The tiny lab in Melrose Arch that built the ‘new’ Dis-Chem from scratch in six months

Bianke Neethling • 22 June 2026

X, bigly labs is Dis-Chem’s homegrown, in-house innovation hub, developing projects that the retailer hopes will take it to the next level.

Its latest project was developing Dis-Chem’s new store format, along with its so-called ‘Health Hub’, which the retailer has described as a game-changer for its business.

Located in a small office in Melrose Arch, Johannesburg, X, bigly labs was born from Dis-Chem CEO Rui Morais’ desire to transform the business from a traditional pharmacy retailer to an integrated healthcare provider.

In short, X, bigly labs is tasked with “internal disruption”, using technology, data, and consumer feedback to develop new systems and rethink Dis-Chem’s current strategies.

Launched in early 2025 and headed up by Aliyah Allie, X, bigly labs’ executive head, the team has since grown to a team of 100 people, including data scientists and medical experts.

One of the lab’s biggest projects to date has been recalibrating and relaunching Dis-Chem’s rewards programme, which is now called Better Rewards.

Previously, Dis-Chem’s rewards programme, extraRewards, was similar to most of the loyalty programmes South Africans may be familiar with – a traditional points-collection system.

Customers purchase products as they normally would and, in doing so, collect a certain number of points based on these purchases.

However, Dis-Chem’s relaunched Better Rewards programme does away with this model, instead taking the form of instant everyday discounts.

Under the new programme, members receive an immediate 10% off over 180 of South Africa’s most popular brands.

X, bigly labs was the brains behind this revamp, having built it with a focus on providing instant, stackable discounts on everyday items.

As Morais put it, Dis-Chem wanted to establish itself as the retailer South Africans can go to at any time and know that they will find the lowest price for essential items.

This is as opposed to shopping around at different retailers for whatever promotion was on at a particular time.

This approach is very common in South Africa’s retail landscape, with consumers willing to patronise different retailers for different items, largely dependent on price.

So far, X, bigly labs’ development of Dis-Chem’s Better Rewards programme appears to be bearing fruit.

Dis-Chem has credited this programme with significantly growing its market share across all retail categories since launch, and serving its main purpose by driving increased customer loyalty.

Building the ‘new’ Dis-Chem

X, bigly labs’s job was not done after this rewards programme overhaul, with the team soon starting work on developing the ‘new’ Dis-Chem – a revamped store format.

Announced in early May 2026, Dis-Chem plans to roll out its new store format in all new stores starting in August 2026.

In addition, the group is planning a major overhaul of its store base over the next few years, with its existing footprint set to the get a makeover guided by the new store format.

The first store to include the new format was unveiled on 6 May at Melrose Arch, a short walk from X, bigly labs’ office.

With the new format, Dis-Chem is hoping to highlight its healthcare offerings, which were previously presented as ancillary to its retail offerings.

In other words, Dis-Chem is hoping to do away with the fragmentation between its pharmacy, clinic, and retail segments, and unite them using a new “health hub” concept developed by the X, bigly labs team.

This health hub, which is set to be present in every Dis-Chem store in the future, serves as the central engagement point for all of its services.

In practice, this means customers can join the pharmacy queue, book an appointment at the clinic, or chat with a financial advisor about Dis-Chem medical, funeral, or life insurance, all from one central location in each store.

The hub will also centralise reception and admin activities for other segments in the store, freeing up space for shop assistants, pharmacists, and clinic nurses to focus on client engagement.

This new store format represents a major project for Dis-Chem, with the group planning substantial capital expenditure in the years to come.

However, one of the most surprising parts of this massive project is that it was built in only six months.

Six-month sprint

Dis-Chem CEO Rui Morais and X, bigly labs executive head Aliyah Allie

In an interview with Daily Investor, Allie explained how the ‘new’ Dis-Chem went from ideation to the first store opening in only half a year.

It all started with a booth. According to Allie, the Dis-Chem insurance team had designed a diner-style booth, with a table and benches on either side, for its Sandton store.

“The insurance team designed that, then the question became, where do we put that in the store, like where does it go?” she explained.

“And the stores are already so full, you’re taking up a massive amount of space, and I think in Sandton, they kind of just wedged it in the front, kind of between the trolleys and the cashiers. It seems out of place.”

“Rui and I were having a conversation about whether it makes sense to just superimpose on the existing store. It’s a beautiful bench, it’s really well designed, but where do you go from here?”

This booth – and the conversation it inspired – led Allie and Morais to consider how all Dis-Chem stores could be reconfigured to better deliver health services to its customers.

One idea led to another, and suddenly X, bigly labs was tasked with redesigning Dis-Chem stores from the ground up.

Allie explained that this “from scratch” approach was critical in allowing her team to forget the “first principles” of retail and truly imagine what a store could look like if there were no constraints.

“I think the important thing that we also made sure not to do is that there were no limits imposed early on,” she said. “It was a very unconstrained view of what it is we needed to be able to do for the customer.”

Then, once the concept moved from idea to execution, the team had to consider constraints and determine how its idea fit within those limits.

“It happened very quickly, and the idea for us was, of course, there were going to be constraints,” she said.

“Constraints in the technology, there were gonna be constraints around what’s possible to build ourselves versus what needs to be bought and of the stack of things that are buyable, but we started off very much in an unconstrained view.”

“So, we have a very long roadmap of what it is we’re building towards, because that unconstrained view is where we ultimately get to. What we opened in Melrose was what was going to be possible within 6 months.”

Looking ahead, X, bigly labs has now turned its focus towards replicating, and adjusting where needed, the new store format into Dis-Chem’s existing store base.

With a footprint of 323 stores across its network, each with a pharmacy and clinic, this is another tall order.

However, Allie believes her team has what it takes. “There’s a big purpose uplift that is going to be possible from the work that we’re doing, but there’s a massive commercial uplift that is going to be possible in this business from the tweaks we’re making,” she said.

“I’ve joked for a long time that I have the best job in the country. There are days, at least in the moment, where it feels harder than I expected it ever could, but I get to solve some really cool and interesting problems every day.”

“And I work with a team where it is the greatest privilege of my career that I get to walk the same halls as some of these folks.”