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How one of South Africa's largest retail groups unified three banners, re-platformed its operations, and moved from a $122 million loss to a $59 million profit in four years.
The challenge
South Africa's retail market was not waiting for anyone to catch up.
Pure-play eCommerce competitors were gaining ground while one of the country's largest retail groups still ran three banners as though they were separate businesses: different technology stacks, different commercial processes, no shared view of the customer.
Fragmented online and offline operations capped scale, slowed agility, and left customers with an inconsistent experience across channels. The losses reflected it.
“TOMORROW has been a tremendous partner. Their ‘retailers guiding retailers’ approach has resulted in a remarkable level of insight and practicality in their recommendations. Wherever we've been ‘powered by TOMORROW’ we've seen a noticeable acceleration in our growth and success.”
SVP, Global Retail Group
The work
We defined a five-year transformation roadmap to position the retailer as the leading B2C and B2B eCommerce player in the market.
At the center was a unified operating model built across five pillars: marketplace, on-demand commerce, B2B digital mall, platform-as-a-service, and omni-fulfillment. A three-phase implementation plan gave it clear targets, milestones, and resource requirements.
Then we moved from blueprint to build. Our consultants embedded directly in the business, working alongside internal teams to re-platform core systems, stand up the marketplace MVP, and integrate fulfillment and last-mile partnerships. Agile practices took root, priorities aligned across banners, and the operating infrastructure came together in phases. By the time we stepped back, the retailer's own product and technology teams were running it.
The result
The group turned a $122 million net loss in 2021 into a $59 million net profit in 2025.
GMV grew 108% year on year in 2022, and order volumes rose 40% following the re-platform in 2023.
Three banners now operate as one digital business, with the customer view, technology, and fulfillment shared across them; and the capability to keep building sits inside the retailer's own teams.
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