Shoprite CEO, Pieter Engelbrecht says that the retailer plans to launch its own mobile virtual network operator (MVNO).
Speaking at Shoprite’s Group results, Engelbrecht says “Very soon we will launch our own virtual network to enhance our customer data even further”.
This MVNO is expected to rival Pick n Pay’s newly launched service that uses MTN’s mobile network infrastructure to offer customers prepaid, SIM-based access to services including airtime, data, and SMS.
“Mobile technology is core to South Africans’ way of life and an essential part of the monthly grocery shop. Our country has a very high mobile phone penetration, but data costs have been a barrier. We believe expanding our services to enter the mobile market will benefit millions of our customers,” says Richard van Rensburg, Chief Technology and Services Officer at Pick n Pay.
“This is an outstanding innovation for our customers, and we’re very excited about the extra benefits they will earn. Innovation has been absolutely central to creating South Africa’s favourite loyalty programme and this new Smart Shopper innovation means that customers walk out our stores with affordable groceries, points on their card and now free data on their PnP Mobile SIM card.”
“Our pricing will be simple, transparent and competitive with other providers plus we’ll be offering substantial free data rewards just by shopping in our stores,” adds van Rensburg.
PnP Mobile tiers:
| Instant data reward tier | PnP Mobile Spend (within a 30-day period) | Instant data reward per R10 spent in store | Instant data reward limit | Max. shopping limit to earn data rewards | SAVINGSMarket value of instant data rewards limit (based on PnP Mobile pricing) |
| 0 | R0 – R49 | No Reward | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 1 | R50 – R99 | 5MB | 250MB | R500,00 | R45,00 |
| 2 | R100 – R199 | 5MB | 500MB | R1 000,00 | R75,00 |
| 3 | R200 – R299 | 5MB | 1250MB | R2 500,00 | R120,00 |
| 4 | R300+ | 5MB | 2500MB | R5 000,00 | R230,00 |
