With the JSE's general retailers index down 12.91% year to date, grocery retailers are anticipating a slow Christmas as consumers struggle with higher inflation and limited discretionary income. But stokvels are expected to boost their sales. Annaleigh Vallie, group communication manager at Massmart, said on Wednesday that a Makro store could have up to 200 stokvel groups at any given stage on its books. Each group could have between five to 50 members, while some stokvels have as many as 150 members. "We cater to the groups. Purchases are rung up at separate till points, made available exclusively for stokvel members at collection time," said Vallie. "When deliveries are made, trucks take the bulk purchases to a designated delivery area, where all the stokvel members gather and the goods are divided up for individuals," said Vallie. Massmart said Witbank Cash & Carry had 125 societies with about 1,800 members each. This means each stokvel can spend about R200,000 on festive season ...
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