What kind of mindset is required for innovation?
If category competitors want to feel extra miserable about their increasingly distant position in the category, our suggestion would be for them to just watch this video on repeat.
This week, ShopriteX (the innovation skunkworks that is responsible for Checkers Sixty60 and Xtra Savings) announced the launch of Pixie (a smart AI shopping assistant personalised to every Sixty60 customer).
The innovation itself is great, but what is of far more interest to us is the video announcing it.
For anyone who has ever worked within an innovation / start-up system, they will immediately pick up on some distinctive cultural cues from the clip, that point directly to the kind of mindset required for innovation.
You see, unlike a typical corporate environment (where management wouldn't be seen dead talking on camera about their latest bid for the future), this video features senior ShopriteX management talking freely and confidently about the application of technology to achieve customer outcomes.
It's not ad ad, it's a genuine announcement that the team are proud of. You can literally feel their excitement.
If the category competitors want to feel extra miserable about their increasingly distant position in the category, our suggestion would be for them to just watch this video on repeat.
ShopriteX's biggest asset isn't technology or data, it's rather how they see things. Nobody else in South African retail seem to be 'seeing things' the same way.