Can SA shoppers afford Woolies' 'store of the future'?

South Africa's wheezing economy hasn't stopped Woolworths from rolling out its most opulent food store yet: a sensory showroom of indulgence, theatre, a sushi bar - and Chuckles on tap

- By Kara le Roux

Step into the Woolworths Food Emporium in Durbanville, Cape Town, and you might wonder if you've stumbled onto a Chef's Table set.

You won't even notice the standard grocery store hum of fridge fans and overhead lighting, because it will be masked by steam curling from live cooking demos and scents from the Bloom Bar's in-house florist, and the bespoke sushi bar might distract you instead.

This is a podium for premium, where every shelf and curated corner forms part of the performance.

The Emporium is a pantomime of opulence, a first of its kind in South Africa - a new flagship format the retailer calls a "store of the future". It's bigger, sleeker and squarely aimed at the ever-thinning upper crust.

With food inflation clawing at wallets and household incomes under siege, is this "store of the future" catering for the average South African?

When it comes to luxury groceries and offerings, Woolworths has ruled the roost for some time. According to its 2024 annual financial report, the group targets "mid-to-upper income customers who value quality, innovation, value and sustainability".

In a submission Woolworths made to the Competition Commission in 2018, the retailer stated that its target market falls within the Living Standards Measure 8-10 bands. These are South Africans who have the most access to wealth, have high school or higher schooling education, and live in urban and suburban areas. From an income perspective, this crowd is in the top 12.9% of South Africans who earn above R20,000 per month.

It's also worth noting that, as of that same filing, the retailer had about 210,000 active Woolworths credit cards in circulation. That number is probably higher now with anecdotal whispers coming from retail meetings indicating that more than 80% of those card-carrying customers are fully using their credit facilities at the food store.