BUSINESSES dealing directly with consumers have not had a great time of late. The sluggish economy has given the retail sector an uphill struggle and has even put the ever-robust cellphone operators under pressure.Shoprite, for instance, saw a 7.2% rise (down from the 12% rise in the corresponding period) in turnover for the half year to end December for its SA-based supermarkets. There is a similar story at MTN, whose SA revenue moved up only 3% for the year to December.Appliance maker and distributor Nu-World Holdings noted in its results for the half year to end February: "The slowdown in economic growth has seen an impact on consumers, as real gross national income per capita has fallen since 2014. Both household debt and debt servicing costs have risen. Currency volatility and further depreciation continued during the period under review."But despite the pressure on consumers they were not prepared to do without some of their electronic nice-to-haves, which in part accounts for...
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