South Africa’s grocery and retail landscape is undergoing a structural shift, driven by consumer demand for speed, access, and flexibility. McKinsey’s State of Grocery Retail 2024 report shows that online grocery sales have grown 54% annually since 2019 to reach R23 billion, with 26% of consumers planning to increase their online grocery spend. This surge reflects the same consumer appetite fuelling the rapid adoption of SPAR on the Uber Eats app.
To date, 275 SPAR stores are live on the Uber Eats app, with plans to exceed 800 nationwide, ensuring more South Africans can access everyday essentials with ease.
A Partnership that sets the Benchmark
The collaboration between Uber Eats and SPAR is proving to be a benchmark for South Africa’s digital retail future. By combining Uber Eats’ technology, logistics, and consumer reach with SPAR’s trusted national footprint and strong franchise network, the partnership demonstrates what is possible when global innovation meets local expertise.
Together, the two brands are building a model that not only extends convenience to millions of South Africans, but also empowers independent retailers and creates new income streams across communities. This is more than a retail partnership – it is a blueprint for how digital and physical ecosystems can work together to drive growth, inclusion, and consumer trust.
Redefining Retail with Technology and Insights
Consumers are shopping differently, and their reasons are clear: 43% of South Africans shop online to save time, while 30% cite convenience as the key driver (McKinsey). Uber Eats data echoes this, showing that South Africans save over 12.7 million hours each year by ordering on the app, time that is reinvested into work, family, and community.
“Consumers no longer view delivery as a luxury, they expect it,” says Alex Troughton, EMEA RGM for Grocery & Retail at Uber Eats. “Expanding SPAR stores on the Uber Eats app means we’re not just enabling convenience – we’re reimagining retail around consumer behaviour, backed by data, insights, and real outcomes.”
Empowering Local Retailers
SPAR’s independent retail model – with around 80% of stores independently owned – positions the retailer as a platform for local empowerment. By bringing SPAR, TOPS, and KwikSpar stores online, the partnership supports hundreds of entrepreneurs, helping them compete in a digitising retail landscape while connecting them to millions of new customers.
“As a deeply local retail network, SPAR’s roots are in community,” says Blake Raubenheimer, Omnichannel Executive at SPAR Southern Africa. “By scaling SPAR with Uber Eats, we’re extending that community connection into the digital economy – helping our independent retailers access new markets and more customers.”
Driving Economic Inclusion
While convenience is top of mind for consumers, the platform also fuels economic growth. In 2023, Uber contributed R17 billion to the South African economy, equivalent to 3.5% of the transport, storage, and communication sector GDP. Uber Eats has unlocked R1.6 billion in incremental value for restaurants, while drivers and delivery people on the platform earn on average 57% more than their next best alternative.