Coronavirus effect in South Africa too

As in other countries, the coronavirus pandemic had a positive effect on DIY store sales following the lockdown, according to Werner de Jager, CEO of South African home improvement chain Cashbuild. De Jager, the second guest in the "Meet the CEO" series featured on the Global DIY Network, was interviewed live on the Internet about the current situation by John Herbert, general secretary of Edra/Ghin. The figures cited by de Jager were a sales increase of 12 per cent in May compared with May 2019, 13 per cent in June and 22 per cent in the third quarter. Online sales had also grown exponentially by 300 per cent, although these were still at a low level. The company was currently working hard to expand its e-commerce engagement, primarily targeting mobile commerce, added de Jager.
The reason for the huge growth as a consequence of the pandemic was the same in South Africa as everywhere across the globe, according to the interviewee. "People have re-established and regained the value of their home and their property," said de Jager. People would now be focusing on their home and on maintenance. The Cashbuild CEO assumed that this situation would remain the same for a while following the current boom in new building activities. "That's good to see for the future," he believed.
Asked where he perceived new competition for his company to come from, de Jager first pointed to smaller, traditional dealers. "We see some very good individual stores, especially family-owned stores," he said. The French chain Leroy Merlin had offered new perspectives.