It has been a tough seven years for Massmart, the general merchandise retailer that owns Game, Dion, Makro and Builders Warehouse stores, as the benefits that Walmart was expected to bring to the company have failed to materialise, with the US giant focusing on bigger and more lucrative markets. When US-based Walmart, the world's largest retailer, bought a 51% stake in Massmart in 2011, it sought to grow its presence in Africa and expand its food retailing business. SA was considered a high-growth market. But amid the continuing retail dogfight between Walmart and its direct competitor Amazon, which are battling it out for the online retail trophy, Massmart is probably its parent company's least concern. Massmart is "pretty small in their world", said Byron Lotter, a portfolio manager at Vestact. To keep abreast of e-commerce retail trends, Walmart bought Jet.com in August 2016. In 2018 Walmart bought 77% of India's largest online retailer, Flipkart. The retailer also has joint vent...
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