Author Archives: Craig Schwabe - GIS Specialist

Financial pressures, shifting shopping habits and digital trends are reshaping the South African consumer market in 2026

South African consumers are changing how they spend, shop, save and interact with brands. The...

South Africa’s jobs crisis needs a map, not another alibi

Statistics South Africa’s Q2 employment data from the 2026 Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) exposes...

South African Retail At A Crossroads – Understanding Consumers Matters More Than Ever

South Africa’s clothing, grocery and broader retail sector faces a difficult contradiction. Consumers still need...

𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮’𝘀 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 – 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝘂𝗺 𝗕𝘂𝘆𝗲𝗿𝘀

A review of South Africa’s grocery market between 2023 and 2025 showed that it remains...

Building a profitable Pick n Pay through better customer targeting and smarter store locations

Sean Summers, in his BizCommunity interview, acknowledges that Pick n Pay was “destroyed from within”...

From Footfall to Tenant Strategy – Profiling Shopping Centre Performance

A shopping centre profile should do more than describe an asset. It should explain who...

Survival Spending to Growth Strategies – What MAPS 2025 Reveals About South African Retail and Financial Services

South African consumers are not simply spending less or more. They are reallocating money, attention,...

A site feasibility study is not the same as retail network optimisation – confusing the two costs retailers millions

Retailers lose millions of Rands every year because they approve a site that looks good...

How Commercial Trucking Brands in South Africa Build Smarter Dealer Networks

Recent trends in South Africa’s commercial trucking sector show a market that is becoming more...

Beyond Two Agricultures – Why South Africa Needs a Geospatial Plan for Real Land Transformation

Reading Wandile Sihlobo’s A Country of Two Agricultures raises an important question: is South Africa...