Always-on connectivity is powering South Africa’s AI-driven retail automation revolution

Picture this: a bustling supermarket at peak trading hours. It could be Norwood Pick n Pay on payday, or Checkers at the Point in Cape Town’s seam-bursting Sea Point on any given Friday, or any of thousands of busy stores.

The checkouts are continually processing payments, digital shelf labels are flashing promotional prices, automated inventory systems are triggering replenishment orders and a swarm of delivery drivers are receiving real-time picking instructions on their mobile devices. Behind this orderly chaos lies an invisible yet critical foundation: always-on connectivity. Flip one switch – be it power or internet connectivity – and it all crashes to a grinding halt.

As retailers accelerate their adoption of automation technologies, a fundamental truth is obvious: sophisticated AI systems, cloud-based platforms and intelligent devices are only as reliable as the connectivity infrastructure supporting them. When the network fails, even the most advanced automation becomes a liability rather than an asset.

The automation imperative

Unlike many other industries, South Africa’s retail automation market is experiencing remarkable expansion at a compound annual growth rate of 11.2% and projected to reach US$691.3 million (R11,06 billion) by 2030 according to Grand View research. To put this in context, South Africa’s GDP (gross domestic product) grew by 1.1% in 2025, mainly due to the positive showing in the fourth quarter of 2025, according to Stats SA. The somewhat surprising surge reflects retailers’ growing recognition of – and investment in – automation.

This includes online commerce, which is no longer an optional extra but an essential catalyst for growth. Online retail sales grew 35% in 2024 to R96 billion, representing 8% of total retail sales. The figure is projected to exceed R130 billion in 2025, capturing nearly 10% of the market. That shift alone is reshaping how retailers think about inventory management, fulfilment models and customer experience.

According to Arthur Goldstuck, CEO of World Wide Worx, “Online retail has moved from being an experiment on the margins to a structural force in the economy [where] nearly one in every ten rand spent at retail will now be online.”

Major retailers are racing to capitalise on this shift. Shoprite’s Sixty60 service, for example, grew by 47.7% last year and now operates from 694 locations, enabling one-hour delivery to more than 80% of South Africa’s addressable online market. Pick n Pay’s asap! service drove 131% growth in first-time buyers following a complete technological transformation.

AI as the intelligence layer

Artificial intelligence has emerged as retail automation’s most transformative force. The South African AI in retail market is projected to surge from US$31.42 million (± R499 million) in 2023 to US$281.91 million (±R4.5 billion) by 2032, representing a compound annual growth rate of 27.53%. Neil Gouveia, Director at Zebra Technologies Africa, explains AI’s expanding role: “AI is emerging as one of retail’s most impactful enablers, powering real-time visibility, loss prevention and predictive insights across the store and distribution network.

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