An uphill battle
Massmart: another day, another excuse
Cost-cutting helps to ease the pain but retailer has a long way to go before its high-volume model becomes effective
Another day, another excuse. For almost a decade, retailer Massmart has used variations of "the dog ate my homework" to explain its disappointing performance. Nothing changed in the Walmart-controlled retailer’s 26 weeks to June. This time round, however, Massmart CEO Guy Hayward had an excuse that seemingly can’t be faulted. "The six months to June 2017 ranked among the most difficult trading conditions in recent memory, not just in SA but in most of the 12 other African countries where we have stores," Hayward told investors at a results presentation.Massmart attacked costs on a broad front, including in-store labour scheduling, reduced shifts in distribution centres, staff number reduction through natural attrition and what it terms "reduction of nonessential activities". Wonders were also worked on stock levels. "We became very scientific about what we thought would sell more and what would sell less," said Hayward. It hauled the stock level down from 62 days of sales to 56 days...
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