The Competition Commission has recommended that the Competition Tribunal approve Shoprite’s acquisition of PicardiRebel, the liquor store chain with over 80 outlets across South Africa, as the country’s largest retailer continues its aggressive expansion in the lucrative off-trade liquor market.
The Commission’s recommendation, announced this week, includes conditions requiring capital expenditure for store refurbishment, according to its statement.
A STRATEGIC MOVE IN A GROWING MARKET
The acquisition of PicardiRebel, a chain with more than 35 years of experience in the liquor trade, strengthens Shoprite’s position in a market Trade Intelligence values at R109 billion in annual sales.
Shoprite has already established itself as the dominant player among listed grocery retailers in the liquor segment. According to Trade Intelligence data, the group operates 925 liquor stores across its Shoprite LiquorShop, Checkers LiquorShop and OK Liquor banners, having overtaken Spar’s Tops, which operates 914 stores.
The retailer’s liquor business has been a standout performer. In its 2026 financial year, Checkers LiquorShop sales increased by 14.5%, while Shoprite LiquorShop grew by 10.6%. The group opened 92 new LiquorShop branches in the first 11 months of FY2026 alone, contributing to a total of 268 new store openings across its core South African operations.
RETAILERS RACE FOR LIQUOR MARKET SHARE
The acquisition reflects a broader trend among South Africa’s major grocery retailers, who are increasingly viewing liquor as a high-growth, high-margin extension of their core offering. The number of stand-alone liquor outlets operated by listed grocery retailers has increased by 31% over the past five years, nearly double the pace of their grocery store growth.
Trade Intelligence has identified “store adjacency” as a key competitive weapon, with retailers leveraging the bundling of grocery and liquor offerings to capture larger weekend shopping missions. “The result is a shift away from fragmented purchasing of liquor products towards increasingly integrated grocery-and-liquor shopping occasions,” the research firm noted.
For Shoprite, which reported record full-year 2025 sales of R252.7 billion, the liquor segment represents a strategic growth area as consumer spending remains under pressure in the traditional grocery market.