Latest news with #SOLshop
Zawya
25-03-2025
- Business
- Zawya
South Africa Budget 2025: Navigating everyday living amid rising VAT and food prices
Following the Finance Minister's recent announcement of a 0.50% increase in Value Added Tax (VAT) in May 2025, followed by another 0.50% in 2026, many consumers are understandably anxious about the impact of these changes. Coupled with rising food, electricity, and fuel prices, this has raised significant concerns about how these factors will affect their budgets and daily living expenses. In the last five years, food prices have risen sharply, exacerbating a national malnutrition crisis. The Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity (PMBEJD) Group reports that the average cost of a household food basket reached R5,383.38 in December 2024, up from R3,199.86 in December 2019 — an alarming increase of over 68%, far exceeding the general inflation rate of around 26%. This steep rise in daily costs, combined with stagnant wages, creates immense challenges for South African families. Essential nutrition is often compromised, with staple foods seeing prices soar nearly 60% from R1,303.18 in December 2019 to R2,078.68 in December 2024, significantly impacting low-income households. To cushion vulnerable communities from the impact of these tax measures, the list of VAT zero-rated food items will expand effective 1 May 2025. New additions include edible offal and specific cuts of meat, dairy liquid blends; and tinned or canned vegetables. This initiative aims to alleviate some financial burdens for those in need. Despite the challenges posed by rising costs, consumers can keep grocery shopping stress-free with strategic planning and budgeting. Here are some practical tips to navigating everyday living: 1. Plan and prioritise: Create a detailed shopping list focusing on essential, nutrient-dense items to avoid impulse purchases, and planning weekly meals helps you buy only what you need and can allow you to capitalise on retailer specials and group buying. 3. Consult the VAT Zero-Rate List: Keep the list of zero-rated items handy, as many staples like maize meal, milk, eggs, brown bread, lentils, and cooking oil are included. With more protein items being added, this list is invaluable when making shopping decisions. 4. Utilise group-buying platforms: Platforms like SOLshop allow you to join forces with others to purchase items at wholesale prices. This social-shopping method is perfect for bulk buying, especially essential household groceries. Buying in bulk, especially staples, ensures you can feed your entire family while keeping costs down. The platform offers weekly deals on daily essentials that will help your rands stretch further. 5. Explore alternative shopping options: Smaller local retailers, markets, and street vendors can sometimes offer better deals than major retailers. 6. Focus on nutrient-dense foods: Prioritise purchasing foods that provide the most nutrition for their cost, such as legumes, grains, vegetables, and fruits that are less expensive but still healthy. 7. Homemade options: Preparing items such as Umphokoqo (crumbly pap), uJeqe (steamed bread), muffins, and scones at home can be healthier and more economical than buying convenience foods. 8. Buy seasonal produce: Focus on purchasing fruits and vegetables that are in season, as they tend to be more affordable and fresher. 9. Grocery store loyalty cards: Many retailers now have loyalty cards that offer shoppers discounts. Make sure you sign up to receive the benefits 10 Manage finances with digital wallets: Use a digital wallet like SOLmate to track your grocery and household spending. It offers real-time balance updates and transaction tracking, helping you adhere to your budget effortlessly. It's an ideal way to manage funds and takes the anxiety out of every day financial management. As we navigate an environment of higher inflation and VAT, the key to reducing grocery shopping anxiety lies in careful planning, budget adherence, and exploring cost-saving strategies. With clever budgeting, you can still maintain a healthy diet while saving for unexpected expenses or that treat.
Zawya
21-03-2025
- Business
- Zawya
SOLshop aims to empower South Africa's food producers with direct market access
Group-buying platform SOLshop has removed traditional barriers to market entry, offering producers of all sizes unprecedented opportunities to reach consumers without the complexities and costs associated with conventional retail channels. SOLshop's first-year performance has demonstrated the viability of this new market approach, with almost 20,000 groups created on the app and over 25,000 orders fulfilled and delivered across the Gauteng region. The platform's focus on essential items such as groceries, fresh produce and household products makes it particularly valuable for producers in these categories who have historically faced challenges accessing retail shelf space. SOLshop is currently handpicking its vendors to ensure an ideal product-market fit for both buyers and sellers on the platform. By adopting a selective approach to onboarding at this early stage, SOLshop aims to cultivate a diverse and high-quality marketplace that meets the evolving needs and preferences of its customer base. This strategy not only guarantees top-tier products but also fosters an ecosystem where businesses can thrive and expand sustainably. Jonathan Holden, chief operating officer of SOLshop, explains, "At SOLshop, our initial focus is to build a strong foundation with carefully chosen vendors who align with our quality standards and marketplace goals. We have created a marketplace for the people, where producers of all sizes can connect directly with consumers who are actively seeking their products. By eliminating unnecessary intermediaries, we ensure producers receive fair compensation while consumers enjoy better prices. Our platform represents a fundamentally different approach to retail that benefits everyone in the supply chain.' The social e-commerce model employed by SOLshop reflects a global trend that has transformed producer-consumer relationships in markets worldwide. This approach fosters direct connections between producers and end-users, building brand loyalty through authenticity and transparency rather than expensive marketing campaigns. For smaller businesses with limited marketing resources, this direct engagement provides invaluable opportunities for growth and consumer feedback. SOLshop's group-buying mechanism creates a uniquen advantage for suppliers by aggregating demand and enabling more efficient production planning and logistics. Instead of unpredictable individual orders, businesses can fulfil consolidated group orders, reducing costs and environmental impact through optimised deliveries and reduced packaging waste. As social commerce continues its explosive growth globally, with market projections indicating an increase from $0.62tn in 2021 to $7.03tn by 2030, SOLshop positions South African producers to capitalise on this transformative trend. The platform creates a democratic marketplace where quality products and customer satisfaction, rather than marketing budgets or established retail relationships, determine success. For South African producers seeking new channels to market in a challenging economic environment, SOLshop represents not just a sales platform but a partnership that actively works to connect quality products with appreciative consumers, creating sustainable business growth through community-driven commerce.
