Pharmacy and beauty retailer Clicks has just opened a baby store in Johannesburg, with dedicated feeding and nappy changing areas.

| Business Insider SA

The store, which opened at Mall of Africa, Waterfall City, is the second Clicks outlet solely dedicated to baby essentials. Its first standalone baby store opened at the Gateway Theatre of Shopping in KwaZulu-Natal in May. It plans to roll out more of the same stores over the next few years.

The store is essentially a one-stop destination for baby essentials and has a wider range of products for moms and babies than you would find at a traditional Clicks store. 

Clicks Baby Store, Mall of Africa, South Africa. (Image: Supplied/Muzi Ntombela)

 

Clicks Baby Store, Mall of Africa, South Africa. (Image: Supplied/Muzi Ntombela)

 

Clicks Baby Store, Mall of Africa, South Africa. (Image: Supplied/Muzi Ntombela)

 

Customers will also be able to use in-store desktops or tablets to buy products from the Clicks website and have them delivered to the Clicks Baby Store, their nearest Clicks store, or at their doorstep.

The store's aisles are also wider to accommodate both prams and strollers. It also has changing rooms for maternity wear as well as dedicated areas for breastfeeding and nappy changing. 

The new Clicks Baby store is designed to offer parents a convenient, beautifully curated shopping experience, Vikash Singh, Clicks’ managing executive, said.

“Customers will benefit from expert advice and tips from in-store advisors on the extensive selection of local and international brands available,” Singh said.

Clicks usually sells hardware baby products such as prams, car seats, and cots on its online store, but the addition of standalone baby stores helps it offer these in the dedicated baby store.

Clicks Baby Store, Mall of Africa, South Africa. (Image: Supplied/Muzi Ntombela)

 

Although its core business is health and beauty, the baby category has been a strategic growth area for Clicks for several years now, helping the retailer attract new customers.

Five years ago, baby merchandise was already the retailer’s fastest-growing category with a market share of 12%. It has managed to grow its market share in the baby segment to 20% since then.

Clicks is not the only retailer that has been looking to dominate the baby merchandise category. Its competitor Dis-Chem has also recently upped the ante with its acquisition of Baby City.

The acquisition has helped Dis-Chem secure 35 Baby City stores which it is aligning to its pharmacy offerings by adding baby clinics in them. When it bought the baby goods retailer, it said the category was a  key segment that sees 900,000 babies born annually.