Jet

For the fourth year in succession Jet has grown its share of the clothing and footwear market. In most categories, key performance indicators are ahead of industry norms and substantially better than competitors in the discount retailing arena. Although average stockholdings were 31,5% higher than last year, a commendable stockturn of 7,8 times was achieved. The store cost-of-selling ratio was 14,9%, which represents the lowest cost structure in the discount industry in South Africa. Stock losses at only 1,0% of sales was a significant achievement in light of the huge increases in product volumes through stores.

Jet has had to respond to the challenging yet exciting task of catering to a market that is in transition. The chain had to meet these challenges by implementing key marketing strategies, which have resulted in the awareness of Jet growing from strength to strength. It was voted the number one brand among the clothing retailers of South Africa for the second year in succession (by the Markinor survey of brands).

The chain's expansion strategy saw 131 new stores opening in the year under review: 54 Jet, three Jet Mart, six Jet Shoes, 60 Legit and 8 Blacksnow stores, with 39 located in rural areas. The average performance of the newly opened stores far exceeded the targets set by Group management and demonstrates that our location strategy formulated two years ago is delivering the desired results.