MOSHE KOLA

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Corporate South Africa has become very good at putting products into townships.

It builds shopping malls, opens national retail chains, paints spaza shops in corporate colours, sponsors community events and launches advertising campaigns featuring township streets, music, slang and celebrities.

Yet a fundamental question remains: does corporate South Africa actually understand the township consumer? Too often, the answer appears to be no.

The problem is not that companies have ignored the township market. Quite the opposite. They know it is too large to ignore. The problem is that many still view township consumers primarily as a demographic category rather than as sophisticated consumers with their own purchasing habits, priorities, relationships and aspirations.

Put simply, being present in a township is not the same as understanding it.

For years, the township consumer has been described using terms such as “low-income”, “mass market” or “emerging consumer”. These descriptions may be useful for market segmentation, but they tell us very little about how people actually make purchasing decisions.

The consumer is not necessarily paying more because they do not understand value. They may simply be buying what they can afford today. That distinction matters when companies design products, prices and distribution strategies

A household can be extremely price-conscious when buying groceries and still spend heavily on a smartphone. A consumer may buy the cheapest staple food but insist on a particular fashion brand. Someone may shop at a national retailer for a monthly grocery trip but continue buying smaller quantities from the local spaza shop throughout the month.

That is not irrational behaviour. It is a rational response to how people manage their money.

One of corporate South Africa’s biggest mistakes is treating township consumers primarily as poor consumers who are always looking for the cheapest alternative.

There is an important distinction between low income and constrained cash flow. A household may have enough income over a month to afford a bulk purchase, but not necessarily enough cash available on a particular day to make that purchase. That helps explain the enduring relevance of small pack sizes, prepaid services, frequent purchases and informal credit.

The consumer is not necessarily paying more because they do not understand value. They may simply be buying what they can afford today. That distinction matters when companies design products, prices and distribution strategies.

A business that understands the township consumer should be asking not only, “What is the cheapest price?” but also:

when does the consumer have money;
how frequently do they buy;
where do they shop; and
what influences their decision?

Those are very different questions.

This is where corporate marketing often gets it wrong. A company decides to target the township and changes its advertising. The music changes. The setting moves from Sandton to Soweto. Some local slang is added. A popular personality becomes the brand ambassador. The campaign is then labelled a “township strategy”.

But slang on a billboard is not a business strategy. Changing the advertising does not necessarily fix a fundamental misalignment in product design, pricing or distribution.

Large corporations spend millions on market research, yet can sometimes overlook the person interacting with their consumer every day

If the product is packaged in a way that does not suit the consumer’s cash flow, advertising will not solve the problem. If the distribution model ignores how people actually shop, advertising will not solve the problem.

And if a company does not understand why consumers trust a particular local retailer, putting up a branded sign will not create that trust.

A genuine township strategy begins long before the advertising campaign. It starts with listening.

The continued importance of the spaza shop is often explained in terms of convenience and proximity. Those factors matter, but they do not tell the whole story. The local trader often knows:

which products sell fastest;
which customers buy on credit;
which days are busiest;
which brands people prefer; and
which products are simply too expensive for the neighbourhood.

The relationship is also deeply personal. The customer knows the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper knows the customer. That interaction produces valuable consumer intelligence.

Large corporations spend millions on market research, yet can sometimes overlook the person interacting with their consumer every day. This is not to suggest that informal retailers understand everything better than large companies; it is to recognise that local knowledge is an economic asset. Corporate South Africa should be learning from these businesses rather than treating them merely as distribution points.

Another misconception is that township consumers simply want suburban retail transplanted into their communities. Build a mall. Bring in national chains. Add restaurants and entertainment. The assumption is that consumers will naturally shift from informal to formal retail. But township economies are more complicated than that. Formal and informal retail coexist.

A consumer can shop at a major supermarket on payday and still buy bread, milk, airtime or household essentials from a spaza shop during the week. They can eat at a national restaurant and still support a local food vendor. They can buy branded clothing at a shopping centre and purchase other items from a local trader. The consumer moves between different parts of the economy according to price, convenience, trust, availability and circumstance.

Corporate South Africa does not need to learn how to sell to township consumers. It needs to learn how to listen to them, design for them and build with them

A successful corporate strategy should therefore not necessarily be about replacing township commerce; it should be about understanding how township commerce actually works.

If corporate South Africa wants to unlock the potential of the township economy, it needs to move beyond outdated, one-dimensional templates.

There is no single “township consumer”. Townships are home to students, public servants, professionals, pensioners, skilled workers, informal traders and entrepreneurs, all making purchasing decisions within very different circumstances. The response should not be to stereotype these consumers differently. It should be to understand them better. That means:

designing products and services around how people actually live and spend;
reconsidering pack sizes, payment options and distribution models rather than simply discounting existing products;
treating township entrepreneurs as potential distributors, logistics partners, suppliers and business partners — not simply as retailers selling someone else’s products; and
respecting consumer dignity.

Dignity does not mean giving township consumers products that are cheaper or inferior. It means offering quality products while understanding the spatial, financial and practical realities of township life. That is not charity. It is good business.

The irony is that township consumers are not an “emerging market” waiting to be discovered. They have been navigating complex markets for generations. They know brands. They compare prices. They understand promotions. They know where they get value and which businesses they trust.

They do not need another campaign claiming that a brand “understands the kasi”. They need companies that actually do.

Corporate South Africa does not need to learn how to sell to township consumers. It needs to learn how to listen to them, design for them and build with them.

The township consumer is not an emerging market. It is an established market that corporate South Africa still has not fully figured out.