Director’s Cut: Dries D'Hooghe - Walmart bets big on SA: “This is only the beginning”

Walmart Africa COO Dries D’Hooghe explains why the global retail giant is doubling down on South Africa, launching new stores, backing local suppliers, rolling out everyday low pricing, and plotting aggressive expansion in a fiercely competitive retail market..Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here.Support South Africa’s bastion of independent journalism, offering balanced insights on investments, business, and the political economy, by joining BizNews Premium. Register here.If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here..Watch here.Listen here.BizNews Reporter.South Africa’s hyper-competitive retail sector has just gained a heavyweight new challenger. With the opening of two full-format Walmart stores at Clearwater Mall and Fourways, the world’s largest retailer has finally put its name above the door in a market it quietly entered more than a decade ago through Massmart.For Dries D’Hooghe, the Canadian-Belgian executive tasked with turning around Walmart Africa, the moment marks more than a branding exercise. It signals what he calls a “vote of confidence” in South Africa’s consumer economy after years of slow growth, shrinking disposable income, and rising retail costs.“This is a big commitment for our customers and our people,” D’Hooghe told BizNews. “New competition benefits shoppers. It pushes prices down and standards up.”The response to the first Walmart store opening suggests this bet may be paying off. Clearwater Mall typically sees around 37,000 shoppers on a Saturday. On Walmart’s opening weekend, foot traffic surged to 85,000.“That number blew us away,” D’Hooghe said. “It showed that shoppers were ready for something new.”Yet many South Africans remember similar excitement when Walmart acquired Massmart in 2011. Expectations were high that an international giant would shake up local retail pricing. Instead, the impact was muted as the business struggled operationally and never fully introduced the Walmart brand.D’Hooghe avoids dwelling on the past. He joined the group two and a half years ago after running Walmart operations in Canada. His brief was clear: stabilise the portfolio and prove to Walmart headquarters that South Africa remained worth backing.“The last three years have been about rebuilding fundamentals,” he said. “Streamlining processes, reducing costs, improving culture, and building trust internally and with customers.”Walmart’s business model rests on what it calls “everyday low cost” driving “everyday low prices.” Instead of heavy promotions, loyalty schemes, or rotating specials, the aim is to keep basket prices permanently lower.“We don’t believe customers should chase flyers or time their shopping trips,” he explained. “They should know that whenever they walk into a Walmart store, their basket will be cheaper.”During public price comparisons, Walmart demonstrated this philosophy by showing a family grocery basket priced at R1,680, compared with competitors ranging between R1,713 and nearly R1,880.“That R1,680 is not a promotion,” D’Hooghe said. “That is the everyday price.”Behind that pricing strategy sits a combination of scale, technology, and global sourcing power. Walmart operates more than 10,000 stores worldwide and employs over 2.2 million people. D’Hooghe says that global reach allows Walmart to constantly lower costs through logistics improvements, automation, and supplier negotiations.“It’s not about selling at lower margins necessarily,” he explained. “It’s about lowering the cost of running the business so prices come down sustainably.”Crucially, the Walmart launch is also interwoven with a strong push for local sourcing. D’Hooghe points to recent supplier summits where South African entrepreneurs pitched products directly to the retailer. Several received what Walmart calls “golden tickets,” landing shelf space in the brand-new stores.One supplier, a Durban clothing entrepreneur who started sewing children’s garments after losing her husband, is projected to sell 15,000 units in her first month.“That’s exactly the outcome we want,” said D’Hooghe. “Global retail strength combined with South African entrepreneurship.”That balance reflects a long-term strategy. While the retailer is leveraging global supply chains for pricing power, the intention is for stores to reflect local tastes, suppliers, and employment too.Culture change has been another focus area. Walmart sent more than 100 South African associates to the United States to experience Walmart culture firsthand and has launched Walmart Academies to train store management locally. The two new Walmart stores are run by managers who trained in Houston before returning home.D’Hooghe shared the story of one store manager who began her career as a cashier and was promoted through internal training programmes.“Her family was there on opening day,” he recalled. “It showed what building skills and opportunity inside a business can do.”Expansion is now firmly on the table. While D’Hooghe declined to provide site specifics, he confirmed plans for an aggressive rollout both from existing property portfolios and new developments outside Gauteng.“We started here because we could move quickly,” he said. “But South Africa is the focus. We want national coverage.”Asked whether the group plans to expand deeper into Africa, D’Hooghe remained cautious. Walmart studies regional opportunities but will prioritise winning in South Africa first.“The markets are diverse and complex,” he said. “We need to build the winning formula here before moving elsewhere.”The arrival of Walmart into full-scale local retail competition is already stirring industry debate. Competitors operate highly sophisticated models built around promotions and loyalty rewards. Walmart’s EDLP model seeks to disrupt that mindset by emphasising simplicity and consistency.“Our goal is to remove friction,” D’Hooghe said. “Shopping should be fast, affordable and uncomplicated.”Convenience is part of that effort. Walmart has launched same-day delivery options targeting the 60-minute delivery standard that Checkers popularised. Backed by global technology platforms, the retailer plans to accelerate digital ordering and AI-based shopping assistance.“In the US, people can order groceries by telling the app they’re hosting a rugby watch party,” he explained. “The app builds the basket for them. That’s the sort of innovation we can bring here.”On geopolitics, D’Hooghe made clear that corporate investment continues independent of political noise.“We are in retail, not politics,” he said. “Our job is simple. Serve customers and lower their cost of living.”For shoppers facing tightening budgets, higher food inflation, and endless special offers that rarely deliver real savings, Walmart’s return to the basics may prove attractive.Five years from now, D’Hooghe says success will not be measured solely in store numbers.“It’s impact,” he said. “Lower prices for families, growth opportunities for employees and suppliers, and stronger retail ecosystems for communities.”Whether Walmart’s bold return reshapes South African retail or simply intensifies existing battles remains to be seen. What is clear is this: the price war has a new global player, and South African shoppers will be the immediate beneficiaries.

Director’s Cut: Dries D'Hooghe - Walmart bets big on SA: “This is only the beginning”

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