Dis-Chem, South Africa’s largest privately owned retailer, is planning to franchise stores for the first time in its 30-year history and is considering listing on the JSE.

COMPANY failures and personal bankruptcies are continuing to climb under the strain of higher debt costs and a slowdown in consumer demand, official figures showed yesterday.

Company failures rose 4,7% last month from the same month last year, taking the pace for the first four months of this year up to 10,5% -- its fastest since 2002, Statistics SA said.

OFFICIAL data this week will deliver a verdict on whether the economy can withstand further hikes in interest rates, seen as inevitable given the Reserve Bank's tough stand on inflation.

Economic growth is expected to slow to 3,6% this year as power shortages and rising debt costs hit output, which clocked up an average pace of 5% over each of the past four years.

The simplest definition for franchising is: “A method of doing business whereby a franchisor licenses trademarks, systems and methods of doing business to a franchisee in exchange for a recurring ongoing consideration i.e. a royalty fee or a franchise management fee”.

HP, in partnership with Digital Planet, has announced the official opening of the HP Experience store in Sandton City. HP Experience is the first concept retail store of its kind in the world.

Operated and owned by Digital Planet, the store will sell HP's entire portfolio of consumer offerings - from personal computing to imaging and printing products. In addition, consumers will have an opportunity to view and experience the latest HP technology in the store.

THE traditional outdoor, meaty taste of South Africa is set to intrigue shoppers.

Lee and Andrew Duncan opened their shop Bizzi B’s in Woking’s Chertsey Road last week and as well as providing home comforts to the South Africans living in the town, they are hoping to educate other nationalities.

It's amazing how few retailers take full advantage of the POS system they have available. This is crazy.

You invested LOTS of time and money in your POS software. Why not get the most from it?

Inventory is one of the primary areas where retailers miss the boat. It's simple. If you're NOT taking full advantage of your POS software to help you manage your inventory, then you're wasting a huge amount of money and time.

To help you get on track, here are 10 very simple tips that will help you reduce inventory costs, reduce lost sales, and get better control of your inventory:

Don't make these mistakes when you buy a POS system

Overlooking important configuration aspects is one of the most common and critical mistakes that retailers make (even if you hire a professional). These mistakes can cost you thousands of rands in wasted time and money. And even worse... it can frustrate your customers.

Retail analysts have predicted Christmas sales to be weaker this year compared to last year. This they say is a result of a slew of interest rate hikes and the new credit law that is putting a damper on the key Christmas trading season.