FMCG

Retail New Year’s Resolutions

Below is a simple approach to help FMCG suppliers and retail teams set goals that are clear, trackable, and achievable—and then actually stick to them.

7 days ago4 min read

The Quiet Strength Behind South Africa’s December

December in South Africa feels like a collective exhale. The traffic thins, inboxes quieten, and there’s an unspoken agreement that it’s time to slow down. But for us in the FMCG, December doesn’t slow down - it speeds up. While much of the country switches off, we work as hard as ever, keeping shelves stocked, stores staffed and supply chains moving during some of the busiest weeks of the year. Every festive braai, beach day and holiday table depends on people who don’t ful

Dec 18, 20251 min read

Black Friday in South Africa: A Stress Test of Households, Supply Chains and Retail Strategy

Black Friday has become one of the clearest indicators of our economic pressures - and the resilience of both shoppers and the FMCG sector. What is a festive kick-off in countries like the United States has, here, become a moment of relief. A way for families to make December possible. A Day Built on Necessity, Not Indulgence While Americans use Black Friday to upgrade their festive season, South Africans use it to stabilise theirs. Black Friday is no longer about luxury barg

Dec 1, 20253 min read

Human-to-Human Beats Algorithm-to-Anything

In retail, data tells you what happened. People tell you why . If you’re betting your next quarter on dashboards alone, you’re solving yesterday’s problem with yesterday’s answers. Here’s our position: human-to-human intelligence is the missing layer in FMCG decision-making . Not as a substitute for data, but as the interpreter that turns signals into action-fast, contextual, and commercially grounded. The problem with “what” Artificial Intelligence and standard analytic

Nov 24, 20253 min read

Local Is Lekker: Why South African Problems Need South African Solutions

“Local is lekker” is a familiar phrase that was first coined in the late 80’s, but at BD-Nav, we see it as a strategy. Yes – you read that right. In South African FMCG, where distance, infrastructure and consumer dynamics vary sharply by region, a global one-size-fits-all playbooks fall short. We have always believed and felt that South African suppliers do not need generic dashboards. Instead, they need decisions grounded in local reality - by people who know the routes, th

Nov 14, 20253 min read

How do you become a Market Disruptor?

The term "disruptor" has become synonymous with success and innovation. But what does it truly take to earn this title? Over the past few years, disruptors have become synonymous with those that maintain a healthy scepticism towards the status quo, perpetually searching for avenues to add value by thinking differently. The world's disruptor-in-chief, Elon Musk, has cemented his reputation by consistently pushing the boundaries of innovation across multiple industries, fro

Feb 24, 20252 min read