Step 1: Business and Industry Overview
1. Business Background
Kieweit Supermarket began in 2021 when Mrs Kieweit, a owner of the supermarket decided
to start selling fresh products in her house. She got frustrated with the lack of quality and
affordable products in the area, she sourced her stock from nearby town in Newcastle and
began selling to neighbours. After some time, people spread the word quickly about her
fresh and reasonably priced products. Within a year, Mrs Kieweit upgraded from a backyard
table to a small tuck shop structure. In 2023, she received a micro-loan through a township
development fund with help from her husband, allowing her to expand her stock, and there
was a sudden increase in demand for her stock. By 2024, Kieweit Supermarket had grown
into a well-known local business, supplying households with fresh products and fast food.
Today the shop offers a wide range of goods and it is well-known for its delicious fast food.
Despite the shop being in the good suistainable area, there are two shops near her shop in
the radius of 2km.
2. Marketing Awareness
The marketing awareness in this case is best described as how well potential customers
know about your business, products, or services. In a township setting, this often means
using low-cost, community-focused strategies to ensure locals recognize and trust your
brand. Kieweit Supermarket does not have a solid marketing strategy in place, instead they
use word of mouth strategy where they tell each customers about the new product the
shop has. The shop does not have any staff responsible for marketing, however I do believe
that the shop can use social media to promote the products they sell or hand out flyers to
alert and attract customers.
3. Challenges and Goals
Like every other business, Kieweit Shop is facing challenges like Rising Supply Costs because
of fuel increases and inflation, transporting newly stocked-products from town to the shop
is getting more expensive and this reduces profit margins and forces price of products to
increase, which is potentially upsetting customers. The shop also faces the matter of
Loadshedding which makes the newly-stocked products like milk, butter to spoilage. The
major challenge it faces is the competition from bigger retailers as they tend to intentionally
price drop certain products and making it harder for smaller retailers to keep up.
4. Customers
The main customers of the Kieweit Shop are neigbours around the shop and other loyal
customers around the area which are mostly males and females aged between 4 – 55 years
because the products they sell are age and environmentally friendly. These customers tend
to compliment the service they receive from the cashier of the shop, advising Mrs Kieweit to
keep up the good work she’s putting in making sure that their lives get simplified by bringing
fresh products near them.
5. Stakeholders
There are no specific people involved in running the shop except for the owner and the
family however, Mr Kieweit tend to sponsor the shop with some money in making sure that
the shop keeps running there are no formal third parties involved.
6. Industry Information
The shop falls under Township Retail or Spaza food sector. The shop operates in the
informal retail sector, selling fresh products directly to consumers in a township setting. It
also forms part of a larger ecosystem of township-based micro-enterprises that provide
essential goods at affordable prices. The shop contributes to food security and local
economic development. In this sector l have noticed the gradual increase in environmental
awareness - a slow but growing trend toward reducing plastic packaging and promoting
reusable bags for packaging food like kota, chips etc. Some businesses are marketing
themselves as more eco-friendly and sustainable.
The SWOT Analysis
The SWOT of Kieweit Shop:
Strengths (Internal Positives)
- Trusted by the local community – strong relationships with loyal customers
- Sells fresh, affordable produce daily
- Operates with low overhead costs
Weaknesses of the shop
- Limited storage and refrigeration – risk of spoilage
- Cannot compete with large supermarket pricing on all items
- Limited capital for expansion or backup power solutions
Opportunities
- Township delivery services are growing nicely
- Growing demand for fresh, local food in the township
Threats
- Load shedding causing refrigeration issues making it hard for products to be fresh for
longer
- New competitors (Bigger retailers) entering the township
- Crime or theft impacting stock and safety
Step 2: Marketing Strategy: Segmentation & Targeting