BATA South Africa: A Confident Step Forward for Bata South Africa

Just a few months ago, leading South African footwear manufacturer, Bata South Africa –well-known for creating much-loved products for consumers around Africa as part of the international Bata Group – was consolidating and searching for opportunities post-pandemic.

With consumers and markets impacted both positively and negatively by the pandemic, some prospects had been lost, but – importantly – new opportunities were ripe for the taking.

Michael Wyatt, Bata South Africa Country Manager, tells Enterprise Africa that a new, bold, global Bata strategy has subsequently kicked off, which will see the footwear giant stepping forward with its sights set on significant growth in trusted markets alongside expansion in new sectors.

“Our Covid-19 strategy was deliberately modest. By focusing on our core South African business of school shoes and industrial footwear while markets were tight during international lockdowns, we were able to deliver on our budget through the pandemic, overperforming against what we had set out to do despite a record number of challenges globally. This meant an easier transition post-lockdown with an appetite for growth going forward,” he says.

“We are now well underway in executing the first steps of our next five-year journey, and plugging into our overall global Bata strategy, through which we are looking to expand the business aggressively in South Africa and the Africa region.”

South Africa, backed by Bata’s global retail, franchise and e-commerce channels holds an impressive portfolio and wide assortment of international brands. The local South African company will be broadening its business beyond the school and industrial categories for which it is so well-known. Its focus will now be on introducing select international sneaker, comfort and outdoor and categories to the local market, and leveraging key collaborations with national retailers.

SOLID FOOTING

Globally, Bata is a major footwear and fashion organisation, with a history dating back to 1894 when siblings Tomas, Anna and Anthony Baťa created the Bata company in the Moravian town of Zlín, Austria-Hungary (modern day Czech Republic). Today, the group sells 150 million pairs of shoes each year, has a retail network of over 5,300 stores, spanning more than 70 countries, employing 32,000 people around the world, owning 21 manufacturing sites, and boasting more than 128 years of footwear and retail experience.

Established in South Africa in 1947, Bata is a household name with a reputation for affordable, reliable footwear. It is the custodian of a number of the country’s favourite footwear brands, including the most popular school shoe brand – Toughees, the iconic South African TOMY Takkies brand, as well as a range of robust Bata Industrial safety footwear.

With a powerful manufacturing facility in KwaZulu-Natal, it employs roughly 500 people, mostly women, and sustains the local community with its production of over five million shoes a year.

Anchored by this solid footing, Bata South Africa has strong ambitions for growth.

Wyatt says Bata will look to climb into new categories, harnessing the strength of its existing lines to introduce retail partners to new and trendy lines from the global Bata portfolio.

“We are bringing a number of our global brands to the South African market, as can be seen with the recent return of one of Bata’s most iconic lines, North Star, which was originally launched in the 1940s in Canada and made its way across the world in the 80s, including South Africa,” he says. North Star is newly available on the virtual shelves of Africa’s biggest online fashion retailer, Zando.

Other global contenders lined up for expansion within the local market include the children’s favourite, Bubblegummers, athletic lifestyle brand, Power, and the innovative Bata Comfit range.

PARTNERSHIPS

Key collaborations with major retailers are a big focus for Bata South Africa, which closed its own branded South African retail stores several years ago. Bata’s brands are currently sold through its own digital platforms, such as Toughees.co.za, as well as via retailers such as PEP Stores, Ackermans, Mr Price, Edgards, Zando, and Superbalist.

“We are currently working on new key strategic partnerships with retailers in South Africa and Africa,” confirms Wyatt. “New retail collaborations are at an advanced stage,” he says.

This will mean continuing to manufacture locally but adding importing and wholesaling of some of Bata’s global portfolio of more than 20 brands and labels.

“We are partnering with South Africa’s leading retail chains to win shelf space for Bata’s leading portfolio of brands. Think brands such as North Star, Power, Bubblegummers, Weinbrenner, Comfit, Toughees, and Bata Industrials. While doing this, won’t lose focus on our core business and we are still very much focused on our core role as a local manufacturer and distributor,” explains Wyatt.

PERFECT FIT

New brands mean a whole new level of support required to deliver for retail customers. Ordering, processing, logistics, marketing and more will all be boosted by investment into new systems, reducing the need for outsourcing and retaining strict control over quality.

“Post-Covid, there is a lot more emphasis and willingness to start reinvesting in people, systems and the back end of the business. We are launching a new enterprise resource planning system in Africa warehouse management system, as well as a direct-to-consumer e-Commerce platform,” says Wyatt.

“South Africa is now also the regional hub for Bata in Africa terms of IT. It is all about setting the business up for the next five years,” he furthers, adding that a new structure has been formed within the business including new leaders in sales and marketing, fresh designers in the footwear team, and a new head of sneakers to focus purely on athletic products from Bata.

Coming out of a challenging two years, there are many hurdles that linger for businesses searching for growth. The economy is still slow, investor confidence is weak, and consumers are battling against inflationary pressure and increasing interest rates. Globally, political landscapes are changing, and logistics and supply chains remain challenged.

But Bata South Africa was quick to put in place strict protocols to protect the business from external issues, and this focus has remained. Controlling everything within its remit, the company continues as a beacon of quality manufacturing in the country, and endlessly displays ethical and sustainable business management.

“The environment is now much more conducive for us to seize opportunities, having thus far survived difficulties including the pandemic and its global logistics challenges, rising inflation, the war in Europe, the South African riots in July 2021, the provincial KwaZulu-Natal floods and a year of record loadshedding in 2022, coupled with a number of remaining economic challenges to overcome,” states Wyatt.

“Retailers themselves have changed their outlook and are looking for points of differentiation and growth opportunities. As a global retailer, we can offer our customers in Africa products, brands, and learnings from the rest of the world that they wouldn’t necessarily get from elsewhere or from other local brands. These partnerships will be key for us going forward and will be mutually beneficial, as we are not interested in only wholesaling a brand; we really want to partner with retailers and offer them something different and exclusive while in return helping to ensure mutual business growth.”

RIPE FOR THE TAKING

The country’s big retailers have boomed in the past 12 months, with reports suggesting that the top brands in the country grew by more than 20% collectively, opening new stores and building new digital capabilities to the delight of customers. If Bata can strike significant and sustainable partnerships with South Africa’s retailers – especially those active on the continent – increased market share should quickly become more attainable.

“The South African manufactured product is a huge part of it, but this strategy will also take into account more of an import arm as well, for certain brands where it makes more sense to rely on the technologies that other countries have already mastered. We will continue to offer a high percentage of our total output from local manufacturing, even while bringing other brands in from Bata internationally,” Wyatt says.

As this strong and busy company prepares for an exciting period of long-term growth, it is now clear that all steps are moving forward, and the road ahead is full of opportunity. A new strategy, a new structure, new technologies, and new partnerships will all result in further joy for customers around South Africa, and all over the continent.

“The last two years have been cautious and focused on our core business, but we are now looking at an expansion model, with more risk, where we will invest in the brands, back end, staff, and lay the foundations for stepping forward through to 2027,” concludes Wyatt.