Woolworths looks to redefine shopping with experience-driven retail strategy
As online shopping grows, the retailer is rolling out concept stores designed to bring customers back into physical spaces.
Woolworths Food store in Johannesburg. Wikimedia Commons/Ossewa
Cape Talk's Clarence Ford chats to Manie Maritz, Managing Director of Woolworths Fashion, Home & Beauty.
Listen to their conversation in the audio clip below:
Woolworths is betting big on elevated in-store experiences to secure the future of its brick-and-mortar business.
As online shopping grows, the retailer is rolling out concept stores designed to bring customers back into physical spaces.
The new Tyger Valley Shopping Centre flagship store, opening on 14 August, is part of this push.
It features enhanced food offerings, a curated fashion section, and dedicated beauty and homeware areas, with services like personalised gift wrapping and international beauty brands.
Sustainability is also central to the store's design, which Woolworths says is its most environmentally responsible yet.
While online retail continues to grow, Maritz believes there’s still a strong appetite for in-person shopping in South Africa, especially when it offers more than just convenience.
"It all started in 2022, after COVID, there was a big customer push to online, and we really needed to do something different in our stores to offer an elevated customer experience, to ensure that customers went back to something different in our stores...to ensure customers went back to a physical store and that's really what I believe we will share with our customers when we open on the 14th of August."
- Manie Maritz, Managing Director - Woolworths Fashion, Home & Beauty
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