#OnShelf: New product launches & retailer initiatives

by Louise Burgers. It’s a mixed bag this week, with new product launches from Flying Fish and Checkers; product rollout by TCL SA with Matrix Warehouse; and PNA supports ECD centres.

TCL SA expands retail footprint 

TCL South Africa is rapidly expanding its retail footprint and has just added another retailer to its mix in the form of Matrix Warehouse which will be housing the latest TCL Google enabled TV products for ease of purchase. Matrix Warehouse is one of South Africa’s largest independent computer retail stores. The company was founded in August 2000 and started trading in an 80m² store in Alberton. To date, Matrix Warehouse has 27 branches and over 39 franchise stores countrywide. Marcel Huggler, director at Matrix Warehouse says TCL will reach consumers directly through its national footprint of 60 stores; with the benefit of in-house technical services. Ryan Curling, TCL South Africa’s Marketing Manager, says it’s the perfect time to be in store at Matrix Warehouse. “We’re about to introduce two new products into the market in the form of our exclusive C835 Mini LED 4K HDR Quantum Dot unit and our upgraded C735 4K HDR TV with 144Hz refresh rate.”

Flying Fish launches Apple flavour

Flying Fish Seltzer apple flavour, the first apple flavoured Hard Seltzer in South Africa, is being introduced by the brand’s new ‘ambassador’, Low Sugar Bae, described as a soft life guru and author of The Book of Soft Life. Low Sugar Bae is extoling the virtues of a bubbly woke soft life, while hoping to become the apple of the consumer’s eye. The new Flying Fish Apple flavoured Hard Seltzer, like the rest of the #FFSelzer range (Lemon & Lime and Raspberry), is available at major retailers – Checkers, Shoprite, Pick n Pay and Tops, Makro, Norman Goodfellows, Tiger’s Milk and other smaller independent outlets.

Checkers launches limited edition Sixty60 toy bikes 

Limited edition Sixty60 toy delivery motorbikes will soon be for sale on the app and in selected Checkers supermarkets across South Africa. The 1:12 scale-model motorbike features Sixty60’s well-known delivery box, which opens and closes, a kickstand and a miniature of the iconic grocery bag used in deliveries. Designed for children to play with, the toy motorbike will certainly also look the part alongside other collectables on customers’ bookshelves or in home offices. “Customers have shared wonderful photos of their kids using plastic ride-on scooters as Sixty60 delivery bikes, often with the addition of a homemade branded delivery box on the back. It is this appreciation for Sixty60 which inspired the collectible toy,” explained Andy Ridge, head of digital commerce at ShopriteX. Cute capitalism.

CAMPAIGN: Rock your funky socks for education

South African retailer PNA has partnered with Breadline Africa, a non-profit organisation that provides infrastructure and educational support to schools impoverished South African communities. The aim this year is to build two schools in the Western Cape and two schools in the Eastern Cape. Both Western Cape schools, Sikhona Educare and Sunrise Educare, are based in Khayelitsha. The PNA Rock Your Funky Socks campaign launches on Mandela Day, 18 July 2022. The public can buy a Funky Socks Day sticker for R10 from PNA and then wear their funkiest socks for the entire day on 2 September 2022. Work or school socks get replaced by your funky socks to show support for building these schools. Chantelle Fritz, PNA marketing & PR manager says, “We are passionate about early childhood development and one of the main pillars of our Corporate Social Responsibility efforts is education.  We need to give every South African child a chance for a better future. PNA is excited to continue our work with Breadline Africa towards funding and building four ECD schools in 2022.” Beyond providing safe infrastructure and stimulating learning environments, Breadline Africa extends its support to school principals and teachers.  The organisation provides ongoing, onsite support for up to three years, so that the schools have access to teaching and learning materials, mentorships and training, as well as school feeding schemes.

Main image credit: TCL.

Louise Burgers is the Publisher and Editor and Co-Founder of RetailingAfrica.com. She has spent over 20 years writing about the FMCG retailing, marketing, media and advertising industry in South Africa and on the African continent. She has specialised in local and Africa consumer trends and is a passionate Afro-optimist who believes it is Africa’s time to rise again and that the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) will be a global gamechanger in the next decade.

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