International giant’s retail stores in South Africa have much lower prices than Checkers and Pick n Pay
Walmart, which launched its first stores in South Africa last year, has lower prices on everyday products than Checkers and Pick n Pay.
This was revealed by a Newsday pricing comparison in July 2026, which considered a basket of goods used by most South Africans.
Walmart already has a strong presence in South Africa through Massmart, which, in turn, owns Makro, Builders Warehouse, and Game
Walmart completed the 100% acquisition of Massmart in November 2022 for R6.4 billion, buying the remaining 47.6% stake it did not already own.
Massmart was officially delisted from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange following the conclusion of the buyout scheme.
This gave Walmart more freedom to change things at Massmart and adjust its store rollout plan as needed.
One of these changes was launching Walmart as a standalone retail brand in South Africa, taking on Checkers, Pick n Pay, and Spar.
On 22 November 2025, the first official Walmart-branded store in South Africa was launched at Clearwater Mall in Roodepoort, Johannesburg.
Shortly afterwards, the second Walmart store opened at Fourways Mall. Both stores were an instant hit with consumers.
It promoted Walmart’s global Every Day Low Prices model, moving away from the traditional South African retail model of high-low pricing.
As part of its launch, it also introduced the new Walmart Shopping app, which offers 60-minute delivery.
The Walmart App lets customers shop for groceries, electronics, and apparel in a single digital ecosystem.
This means that Walmart competes directly against Shoprite’s Sixty60 and Pick n Pay’s asap! delivery services.
Although Walmart’s service is currently linked to its two Gauteng stores, Walmart has aggressive expansion plans for South Africa.
The retailer is looking to expand to Cape Town in the Western Cape and Durban in KwaZulu-Natal.
Walmart starts to offer special prices
When Walmart entered the South African retail market, former Shoprite CEO Whitey Basson argued that it would not be easy for Walmart to gain market share.
He was sceptical of Walmart’s Every Day Low Price model’s success in the local market, arguing that South African consumers were used to the high-low promotional culture.
Basson said that consumers were used to specials and loyalty points from retailers like Checkers and Pick n Pay.
It was not long before Walmart adopted this model. In recent months, it started to offer its clients marked-down pricing.
Instead of just one price, the products had a “Now” price and a crossed-out price with a savings amount.
This complements its traditional Every Day Low Price (EDLP) strategy, which promises consumers a low price without the need to wait for promotions.
It takes advantage of South Africans being price-conscious and actively searching for promotions across multiple stores.
This raises the question how Walmart’s new blended Every Day Low Price and promotional model compares to Checkers and Pick n Pay.
Newsday created a basket of everyday goods and calculated the cost of the basket from each of the three retailers.
It showed that Walmart was cheaper on all products, except when a product was on special from Checkers or Pick n Pay.
It further showed that the basket of goods cost R561.81 from Walmart, much cheaper than the R612.88 at Checkers and R680.38 at Pick n Pay.
The table below shows Newsday’s price comparison for a basket of the same products from Walmart, Checkers, and Pick n Pay in June 2026.
| Product | Walmart | Checkers | Pick n Pay |
| Clover 2l milk | 29.99 | 37.99 | 36.99 |
| Steri Stumpie | 15.95 | 18.99 | 18.99 |
| Blue Ribbon sliced white bread 700g | 18.95 | 19.99 | 20.99 |
| Sprite 6 x 300ml | 71.45 | 64.99 | 93.49 |
| ProVita Ancient Grains 500g | 63.99 | 74.99 | 74.99 |
| Bakers Lemon Creams 200g | 20.95 | 29.99 | 29.99 |
| Nestlé KitKat | 14.78 | 15.99 | 15.99 |
| Kellogg’s Corn Flakes 500g | 48.95 | 54.99 | 56.99 |
| Bokomo Weet-Bix 1.35kg | 74.95 | 94.99 | 96.99 |
| Dairymaid Ice Cream 1.8l | 59.95 | 54.99 | 59.99 |
| McCain oven chips 750g | 61.95 | 64.99 | 64.99 |
| I&J Fish Fingers 600g | 79.95 | 79.99 | 109.99 |
| Total | 561.81 | 612.88 | 680.38 |
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