Merc Strategy Business Strategy and Guidance

Why is Pick n Pay still losing billions despite cleaner stores?

The supermarket giant pushed back its profit target again, revealing a R2 billion trading loss. The real story lies in the disconnect between customer experience and financial reality.

By Strategy October 26, 2026 4 min read

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Business Models

Why Peloton's bikes are a loss leader, not a profit center.

By Strategy October 23, 2026 6 min read

The numbers reveal Peloton's hardware barely breaks even. Their subscription model generates twice the revenue, funding the company long after delivery.

BUSINESS MODELS AND UNIT ECONOMICS

Shoprite gave R1 billion in discounts and grew profit. Here's how.

By Strategy October 14, 2026 5 min read

Shoprite cut prices on 14,400 products, boosting sales and customer visits to R136.8 billion. Uncover the operational engine that makes deep discounts profitable.

Unit Economics

Is your most profitable product actually destroying your business?

By Strategy October 11, 2026 6 min read

Starbucks learned the hard way: a high-margin sale can tie up capacity and kill overall profit. Learn why profit per hour, not per item, is the only metric that matters.

Business Models

The R1.9 billion cash trap that blindsided SPAR. Could it hit your business?

By Strategy October 1, 2026 4 min read

Working capital, the cash flow between paying suppliers and collecting from customers, caused SPAR's R1.9 billion debt surge.

Turnarounds

Starbucks almost collapsed under its own complexity. Here's how it recovered.

By Strategy September 29, 2026 5 min read

The coffee giant became a 'food-service labyrinth' with endless options, driving customers away and profits down. Discover the radical simplification that saved it.

Post-Mortems

A single warehouse cost SPAR R123 million. Here's how it happened.

By Strategy September 19, 2026 6 min read

SPAR's centralized distribution model promises efficiency, but a single KZN warehouse exposed its critical vulnerability, leading to a staggering R123 million loss. What went wrong?

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From the archive

5 months ago

Turnarounds

Why is Pick n Pay still losing billions despite cleaner stores?

The supermarket giant pushed back its profit target again, revealing a R2 billion trading loss. The real story lies in the disconnect between customer experience and financial reality.

By Strategy October 26, 2026 4 min read

Why is Pick n Pay still losing billions despite cleaner stores?

Latest

Why Peloton's bikes are a loss leader, not a profit center.

Shoprite gave R1 billion in discounts and grew profit. Here's how.

Is your most profitable product actually destroying your business?

The R1.9 billion cash trap that blindsided SPAR. Could it hit your business?

Starbucks almost collapsed under its own complexity. Here's how it recovered.

A single warehouse cost SPAR R123 million. Here's how it happened.

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From the archive

Why is Pick n Pay still losing billions despite cleaner stores?