South Africa’s largest food retailer, Shoprite Holdings, says its on-demand delivery platform Sixty60 generated R11.9bn ($750m) in sales in the six months to 28 December 2025, underlining the scale the group’s e-commerce operation has reached within its core supermarket business.
The figure, disclosed in the company’s unaudited interim results, represents year-on-year growth of 34.6% for the 26-week period. It places Sixty60 among the country’s largest digital retail platforms by revenue at a time when traditional grocers across Europe and Africa continue to grapple with the economics of last-mile delivery.
Growth in a low-inflation environment
Group sales from continuing operations rose 7.2% to R136.8bn ($8.45 billion USD) over the period, adding R9.2bn in revenue compared to a year earlier. Internal selling price inflation averaged 0.7%, moving into deflation over the festive season, according to the company.
By contrast, official food and non-alcoholic beverage inflation averaged 4.7% over the same period, as measured by Statistics South Africa.
CEO Pieter Engelbrecht said the group traded in a challenging environment in which cost growth exceeded product price growth. The retailer provided R9.7bn in instant Xtra Savings discounts at the till during the half year, reinforcing its focus on price-led competition.
Supermarkets RSA — accounting for 84.3% of group sales — grew revenue by 7.1%. Within that segment, Shoprite and Usave increased sales by 5.1%, despite internal price deflation of 0.1% and 0.7% respectively. Checkers and Checkers Hyper delivered stronger growth of 8.9%, supported by modest internal inflation.
Trading profit from continuing operations rose 5.9% to R7.7bn, while operating profit increased 3.5% to R7.67bn. Profit for the period grew 4.2% to R3.76bn. Headline earnings per share were up 7.7% to 710.5 cents. The board declared an interim dividend of R3.07 per share, up from R2.85 a year earlier.
A central pillar of strategy
Launched in late 2019, Sixty60 has fulfilled more than 100m orders since inception, according to the company’s latest disclosures. In the 2025 financial year, the platform generated R18.9bn (around $1.05bn) in revenue, up 48% year on year.
Shoprite says its digital strategy centres on building an “omnichannel” model that integrates store and online operations. The Sixty60 app has been downloaded more than 7m times and expanded to hundreds of store locations. Customers who shop both online and in-store spend materially more than store-only customers, according to company data.
The platform has also broadened its offer beyond groceries. General merchandise from Checkers Hyper stores has been integrated into the app, allowing customers to order larger items for same-day delivery. A subscription tier, Xtra Savings Plus, offers unlimited deliveries for a monthly fee.
Data and retail media
A key enabler of this growth is the Xtra Savings loyalty programme, which has 33m members and accounts for the majority of group merchandise revenue. The programme generates large volumes of transaction data, processed by the group’s digital unit ShopriteX to inform pricing, promotions and inventory management.
ShopriteX has also developed a retail media business, selling data-driven marketing services to suppliers. That division grew 37% year on year to R647m, reflecting a broader global trend in which retailers monetise first-party data to offset margin pressure in core grocery operations.
The Zulzi partnership
The technological infrastructure underpinning Sixty60 was developed by Zulzi, a local startup founded by Donald Valoyi. Originally launched as a marketplace for books and electronics, Zulzi pivoted to on-demand multi-category delivery in 2016.
Shoprite commissioned Zulzi to build the Sixty60 platform, which was delivered within six months. The retailer subsequently invested R30m for a 26% stake in the startup. Zulzi now employs more than 100 technology staff and supports a network of hundreds of drivers, processing roughly R1.5bn in grocery orders monthly via its systems, according to the company.
The partnership reflects a broader pattern of incumbents collaborating with local technology firms rather than building digital infrastructure entirely in-house.
Sixty60 operates in an increasingly contested market. Rivals include Mr D, backed by Pick n Pay; Woolies Dash from Woolworths; and Uber Eats, which has expanded grocery partnerships including with SPAR.
Shoprite does not disclose market share figures, but Sixty60 is widely regarded by industry analysts as the leading on-demand grocery platform in South Africa by scale.
The group has earmarked R7.9bn ($488.2 million) in capital expenditure for the 2026 financial year. CFO Anton de Bruyn said investment will focus on store optimisation, supply chain capacity and accelerating digital and data-led initiatives.
Sixty60’s trajectory offers a case study in how a legacy retailer in an emerging market has embedded rapid delivery into its core model while maintaining profitability. Whether that growth can be sustained as competition intensifies — and as consumers remain price-sensitive — will be a key question for investors over the coming year.