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INDUSTRY WATCH
more and more relevant,” says Ottapthu.
However, Ottapthu warns that a shortage of
IT skills across Africa could prevent retailers
from adopting next-generation technologies.
He points to border control as an area
which could benefit from accelerated
adoption of new technologies, with
some of the company’s delivery vehicles
detained for weeks at an end as they are
processed through customs. “Technology
can help make clearance at borders more
Umtata, which is a popular spot for locals,
close to a taxi rank. drive efficiency across its distribution and
supply chain.
“We have inserted LED displays on our coolers
which enhance product visibility and improves
shopper engagement. We have also launched
a project to embed Wi-Fi into some of our
coolers,” says David Visser, IT Director of
Coca-Cola Southern and East Africa. For example, the company assists its
bottlers with a process called Right
Execution Daily (RED), which ensures
that its products are displayed in the
correct manner in a range of outlets, from
supermarkets and petrol stations to small
‘spaza’ shops. Previously, Coca-Cola’s
sales teams would identify manually if
stock was priced at the right point or if it
was displayed correctly.
And coolers keep getting smarter all the
time. In other markets, Coca-Cola has
THERE IS A BIG
OPPORTUNITY FOR
DRONES DELIVERING
MEDIUM-SIZED PAYLOADS
BETWEEN SECONDARY
TOWNS. THIS WILL CREATE
SOME COMMERCIALLY
INTERESTING RETAIL
OPPORTUNITIES.
efficient,” he says. “Full scanning of trucks
and electronic clearance will really help to
improve speed and delivery of products.”
Keeping it cool
Local expertise counts in Africa’s retail sector,
where knowledge of supply chains and local
suppliers can give local retailers a strong
advantage over multinationals.
trialled coolers that use facial recognition
to determine a user’s characteristics, such
as gender and age. The cooler then uses
this information to drive a personalised
campaign and send user’s appropriate
content. Users can also enter their social
media accounts into the vending machine so
the system knows who their friends are and
can send them gift codes.
Automation across the supply chain
One of the biggest brand names in the
world, Coca-Cola, has introduced a range
of innovations designed to help overcome
some of the region’s challenges.
At the end of 2014, it introduced an
initiative to provide free Wi-Fi to parts
of South Africa through its coolers. The
company strategically selected sites
where the benefits of Wi-Fi usage could
be maximised by the local community. For
example, one of the first sites was a Sasol
Integrated Energy Centre (SIEC) in Quni,
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INTELLIGENTCIO
Gaining accurate insight and visibility on
the delivery of products across Africa is a
major challenge for retailers, particularly in
high-density areas or very rural areas. Again
Coca-Cola has looked to technology to
overcome this: “In other markets outside of
South Africa, we are using technologies such
as BRINGG, similar to the UBER app but for
smaller deliveries,” says Visser.
Advancements in connectivity and IT are
playing a major role in helping Coca-Cola
“Now the sales rep just has to take a
picture of the cooler or point of sale and
upload it onto the photo recognition
app,” says Visser. “Automatic retail
pricing reading, recording and reporting
is critical for price communication and
price recommendation. It also provides
great competitive pricing insight and has
assisted our system in eliminating human
errors, inconsistency and inaccuracy.”
Blue skies thinking
Looking to the not-so-distant future,
Africa’s answer to a more effective
and reliable delivery network could
lie in the skies. Amazon has publicly
begun showcasing the potential of its
conceptual drone-based delivery system,
Amazon Air Prime, in North America
and Europe, but there are some very
compelling use cases for delivery drones
in Africa.
There have been some major
breakthroughs in technology over the last
12 months that could see the commercial
arrival of drones in the retail space much
earlier than previously anticipated.
Drones are now available on the market
with vertical lift and horizontal flight; part
quadcopter, part harrier jet if you will.
Researchers at the National Centre of
Competence in Research (NCCR) of
Robotics in Switzerland continue to find
a wide range of applications for drones:
“Many African towns and villages do not
have good transport infrastructure, making
it long and treacherous to successfully
deliver medical supplies. With delivery
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