Dis-Chem vs Clicks – the winner could be Shoprite

South Africa’s retail pharmacy sector is no longer a two-player contest between Dis-Chem and Clicks, as retail giants like Shoprite are increasingly looking for a share of the market.

This means any investment case built purely around ‘Clicks versus Dis-Chem’ may be overlooking a significant structural competitive risk.

This is feedback from PSG Wealth wealth manager Schalk Louw, who told Daily Investor that Shoprite, in particular, poses strong competition to the incumbents.

Historically, Clicks and Dis-Chem have dominated South Africa’s retail pharmacy market, with the two battling for market share.

Only independent pharmacies posed competition to Dis-Chem and Clicks, though the top spot has always been a battle between the two giants.

However, Louw explained that this has changed over the past few years, and it is no longer a two-player contest.

In recent years, grocery retail giants like Shoprite, SPAR, and Woolworths have increasingly moved into the health and beauty market.

SPAR has taken the boldest move into pharmacy-related services with its ‘Pharmacy at SPAR’ brand, which launched in 2011.

Falling under the SPAR Health business, Pharmacy at SPAR has since grown into a substantial part of the retailer’s business. 

It boasted 118 stores at the end of the 2025 financial year, with the goal of growing its footprint to 170 pharmacies by September 2026.

For reference, Clicks had 1,005 stores at the end of February 2026, while Dis-Chem had 316.

While SPAR has been a player in the pharmacy industry for more than a decade, it has yet to put significant pressure on the two market leaders, Clicks and Dis-Chem.

Clicks recently reported a 24.9% market share in the retail pharmacy industry, while Dis-Chem’s latest results showed a 24.3% share in the dispensary market.

For personal care and beauty, Clicks reported a 23% share of the personal care market, 43.1% of the skincare market, and 32.9% of the haircare market.

Dis-Chem reported a 17.5% share of the personal care and beauty market for its 2026 financial year.

However, a newer market entrant with significant scale and customer reach is now set to take these two by storm.

The graph below, courtesy of Coronation Asset Management, shows how Clicks and Dis-Chem’s market share has consistently grown over the past decade.

The new kid on the block

Louw said Shoprite, and its subsidiary Checkers, already have the scale, customer reach, loyalty data, and delivery infrastructure to take on the retail pharmacy market.

He said the grocery retailer, the biggest in Africa, can use these advantages to move further into health and beauty and, potentially, pharmacy-related services.

Shoprite has been a player in the medical services and supplies industry since 1999, operating under its Medirite brand.

Medirite operates dispensaries within Shoprite supermarkets, with a current footprint of 140 in-store dispensaries.

However, in recent years, Shoprite has paid more attention to this brand and has begun rolling out stand-alone Medirite Plus pharmacies.

These stores offer a full-service healthcare destination with an expanded retail space featuring fragrances, cosmetics, wellness and beauty products, and supplements.

In Shoprite’s results for the first half of its 2026 financial year, it reported that sales at Medirite Plus retail pharmacies grew by 73.5%.

“While the supermarket-based dispensaries will remain an important part of our pharmacy offering, there is a strengthened focus on expanding our Medirite Plus offering,” Shoprite said.

“This year, we opened five new Medirite Plus pharmacies, bringing our total to 18 and enhancing the 122 Medirite counters available in our supermarkets.”

Shoprite also mentioned that it is targeting headroom in high-growth grocery-adjacent sectors, such as the pet care and pharmacy markets.

In this regard, the retailer is pinning its hopes on the continued success of the Sixty60 platform, which is the current market leader in South Africa’s on-demand delivery sector.

Shoprite believes Sixty60, with its loyal customer base, market-leading logistics backbone, and existing tech and operational muscle, will allow it to grow more easily in grocery-adjacent sectors.

Louw said that while Clicks and Dis-Chem have room to grow, Shoprite’s expansion into their market poses a structural competitive risk.

“Any investment case built purely around Clicks competing with Dis-Chem may therefore be answering a smaller question than the market is ultimately pricing,” Louw said.