Checkmate

Checkmate traces the astonishing ascent of Shoprite Checkers since 2017, which marked the end of the Whitey Basson era.

By almost any measure the Shoprite Group holds a commanding position in the South African economy: It’s the largest South African company by revenue. Over 35 million South Africans shop at their 28 different brands. 8 out of 10 home deliveries are provided by Sixty60. With over 170 000 employees, they are the largest private employer in the country. But in 2017 the future was far from rosy. Pieter Engelbrecht, the newly anointed CEO, was immediately hit with trouble on multiple fronts: collapsing African economies, internal IT chaos, failing national infrastructure, strikes and labour friction, the pandemic and riots.

Checkmate is the extraordinary untold story about how the company confronted crisis after crisis, leaning aggressively into sometimes risky cutting-edge technology, and built what is now a near impenetrable digital and physical retail fortress.

With his own investigation as well as in-depth interviews with the senior management team, award-winning author, Steven Boykey Sidley, dives into the backstories of Xtra Savings, Sixty60, FreshX and the viral marketing campaigns to paint a vivid and colourful picture of corporate resilience and innovation.