DataEQ, in collaboration with PwC, has published the inaugural South African Retail Sentiment Index, which analyses consumer sentiment on social media towards the country’s major grocery retailers.

The Index tracked over one and a half million public social media posts about Woolworths, Shoprite, Checkers, SPAR, Pick n Pay, and Food Lover’s Market for the period 1 January to 31 December 2022. The industry achieved a positive average Net Sentiment score of 3.3%.

Themes covered in this year’s index include:

• Net Sentiment performance (overall, reputational and operational)
• Pricing, customer service and product offering
• Risk and reputation
• Delivery service
• Environmental, social and governance (ESG) influences