“Covid pandemic showed that your customer can change in a heartbeat”

Customer experience (CX) experts from some of the most recognised and successful brands on the continent, including Multichoice, Woolworths, Shoprite, Superbalist, African Bank, DHL and Rand Merchant Bank, will share their successes, failures and lessons learnt during the next edition of CEM Africa Summit, taking place from 10–11 November 2021.

* CEM = Customer Experience Management

“CX is about managing the end-to-end journey that a customer experiences with a brand or solution that makes them feel heard and understood—from touchpoint through to advocacy—of a brand, a company, a solution and more,” says Shannon Mackrill, co-founder of the CEM Africa Summit.

According to Mackrill, over the last three to four years the importance of the customer has grown in this very specialised segment of consumer marketing: “The movement towards the gig economy and on-demand solutions has helped shape customer expectations of companies. This puts brands to the test, increases competition and forces them to perform better.”

He says the biggest lesson that the market has learnt during the COVID-19 pandemic is “that your customer can change in a heartbeat. It is not this thing or ideal that is constant. Your customers’ needs change as technology and expectations do, and so should a brand or a business. The consequence will be falling behind and losing customers.”

ROI is key
November’s CEM Africa Summit will gather heads of CX, marketing, MDs, owners of companies or business units. “Essentially anyone who has an interest in their customers,” says Mackrill. “They attend to expand their knowledge and more specifically to learn from others who have faced challenges or successes in managing their own customers experience, practical insights and real examples from those who are entrenched within the industry. ROI is key, as well as demonstrating the power that great CX has on customer retention and creation.”

Honest retellings of CX experiences
The CEM Africa Summit has been around for a decade and has played a leading role in South Africa’s customer experience journey and has connected thousands of CX professionals over the years.

States Mackrill: “We are proud of having been at the cradle of this discipline, way before CX was a consideration, let alone a job title; and until today it is still an event that helps shape the way people think about and engage CX in their daily work lives and has been essential to push the boundaries of understanding and shaping the experience a customer has with a particular product, solution and company.”

He adds: “As always we look forward to honest retellings of leading companies’ customer-related experiences and projects. If they failed, how they failed and why. If they succeeded, explanation of their recipe for success. Panel discussions and keynotes, no death by power point, just real people telling real stories.” He continues, “this sentiment was a tough sell in the early years, however, nowadays it is essential in the vision and growth of a company. We have also seen CX shift to include employee experience as a means of manifesting good customer experience.”

The 25+ CX experts in the CEM Africa Summit programme line-up include:

• AutoTrader: George Mienie, CEO
• Dischem: Lynne Blignaut, Group Loyalty and Customer Rewards
• CX Visionary: Steve Towers, Process Management & CX enabler
• Rand Merchant Bank: Mumbi Odambe, Head of CX and Design
• Rand Water: Kamohelo Potloane, Head of Customer Experience Development
• Shoprite Group of Companies: Kia Abbott, Rewards Programme Manager
• South African Tourism: Debbie Damant, Head Visitor Experience
• Superbalist: Brenda Zuma, Customer Service and Operations Manager
• Woolworths: Hanz Rauch, Head of Digital Online Products
• African Bank: Eloise Boezak, Head Customer Experience
• Multichoice: Clint Payne, Senior Manager, Customer Experience
• Majid Al Futtaim Group: Qaalfa Dibeehi, Dean of Customer Experience Leadership Institute

Confirmed event sponsors so far include freshworks, Infobip, Insider, Rogerwilco and Verint.

How to join them?
CEM Africa returns via a world-class virtual event platform offering access to the live keynotes, panel discussions and the agenda. Attendees will be able to engage with the speakers and participate in Q&A sessions, polls and surveys. They can also contact exhibitors via chat or video call, exchange business cards with other participants and download brochures. To register and access the full programme, click here.

About CEM Africa
CEM Africa is the largest online CX event on the continent and is organised by Kinetic Events, which is a partner of The Vuka Group (formerly Clarion Events Africa).

Dates and location:
Dates: 10–11 November 2021
Venue: Online

Website: https://cemafricasummit.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kineticevents/
Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/CEMAfrica/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CEMAfricaSummit

Media registration: Use the code CEMPRESS to register here

Media contacts:
Adam Fletcher, Chief Marketing Officer, CEM Africa
Mobile: 071 130 9160
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Annemarie Roodbol
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

E-commerce sales to account for 18% of retail sales worldwide in 2021

Bringing cash into digital commerce is considered the “last mile of payments” and currently considered the biggest growth opportunity in this sector. An example of a physical voucher that can be redeemed as a debit card payment in online stores is 1ForYou, which will be launched officially in 2022 and offer card vouchers in spaza shops throughout South Africa.

“It could be a game changer,” says Rahul Jain, CEO of Peach Payments, the e-commerce retail experts behind this new initiative. “Cash is still the predominant payment method in the informal economy. We are always looking out for ways to make it easier for business owners to bring their stores and services online and become formal businesses that can build credit history and give them access to a broader set of financial tools and services that then can help them scale.”

Jain is part of a who’s who expert line-up from the e-commerce space, including Woolworths, Massmart, Dischem and AutoTrader, who will share their exclusive insights, case studies and expertise at the upcoming ECOM Africa, a full day virtual event set to run next Tuesday, 21 Sep 2021.

The Peach Payments executive sees digital retail increasingly embedding itself into social media. Jain explains: “Watch how Facebook, Instagram and TikTok all start to make it easier and easier to buy your favourite items -- sneakers, jewellery, football kits -- directly from their platforms. Also, several companies are working on building a “super app” with all the features of a mall and a bank together. Look for this to finally build some traction in the coming years.”

E-commerce 18% of retail sales worldwide

“COVID-19 has pushed companies over the technology tipping point, transforming business forever,” says Terry Southam, the MD of ECOM Africa.

He adds: “companies have accelerated the digitisation of their customer and supply-chain interactions and of their internal operations by years. It is believed that the share of digital or digitally enabled products in their portfolios has accelerated by as much as seven years. To stay competitive in this new business and economic environment requires new strategies and practices.”

In 2021, e-commerce sales are expected to account for 18.1% of retail sales worldwide. It is estimated that there will be 2.14 billion global digital buyers. In retrospect of the COVID-19 pandemic and the rapid acceleration in digital transformation, the ECOM Africa speakers will deconstruct the strategies they have been successful with and how they are preparing for the next wave in e-commerce.

The speaker line-up includes:

• Hanz Rauch, Head of Digital Product for Online, Woolworths
• Rahul Jain, CEO, Peach Payments
• George Mienie, CEO, AutoTrader
• Paul Cook, CEO, Faithful To Nature
• Lynton Peters, CEO, OneCart
• Johann Van Tonder, COO, AWA digital
• Paris Philippou, VP: Game Ecommerce and Digital, Massmart
• Farai Zaranhyika, Head of Ecommerce/Online, Dischem
• Warrick Kernes, CEO, Insaka
• Phil Marais, Head of Africa and Brazil Supply Chain, Cotton On
• Peter Allerstorfer, UCOOK

Key topics

The conference will unpack key topics within the e-commerce space, speaking directly to business operations, store design and optimisation, fulfilment and logistics, payments and security, and marketing and brand building. Attendees can expect to hear case studies on:

• Agile product management
• Secure payments with digital identities
• Inclusion of the informal economy in digital payments
• Business operations and infrastructure
• Fulfilment and logistics
• Conversion rate optimisation
• Commerce media and how to target buyers to deliver rich experiences
• Developing omni-channel strategies
• Leveraging data in digital marketing

Sponsors include Peach Payments, VISA, Freshworks, LexisNexis, uAfrica, AWA digital, RAM, and Criteo who will have a strong presence throughout the event. They will share their experiences with the audiences and will be able to interact digitally with them. The digital platform allows them capabilities to connect with potential customers through virtual exhibition booths, virtual networking, contact swops and educational keynotes and panel discussions.

Next week’s ECOM Africa will be the seventh edition of this flagship, specialist gathering in the e-commerce, retail, and fintech sector.

Register and contacts
To join 1000+ attendees for a full day of in-depth keynotes, panel discussions, online networking and live Q&A sessions, register here.

ECOM Africa dates and location:

• Live virtual event: 21 September 2021

Website: https://ecommerce-africa.com/
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/eCommerceConfex
Facebook:  ECOM Africa
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ecomafricaconfex/

Media contacts:
Adam Fletcher, Chief Marketing Officer, ECOM Africa
Mobile: 071 130 9160
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Annemarie Roodbol
Mobile: 082 562 7844
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.