Shoprite's move into digital services puts small airtime sellers under pressure

Shoprite is making it possible to buy airtime, mobile data and digital vouchers through Sixty60. For customers, it is another way to top up a phone or purchase a voucher. For small businesses that make money selling these services, it introduces a competitor with a much larger retail and digital operation.

The new offering covers prepaid services across major mobile networks, including Vodacom, MTN, Telkom, Cell C and Shoprite's own K'nect network. Customers can also buy digital vouchers for services such as Google Play, Apple's App Store, Uber and PlayStation. Purchases are sent by SMS, and customers do not need to add groceries to their order. 

Shoprite has sold airtime and other prepaid products in its stores for years. Taking these services onto Sixty60 gives the retailer another way to reach customers who prefer buying through their phones. The implications extend beyond the banks. Small retailers, spaza shops, independent airtime sellers and businesses that earn commissions from prepaid transactions could also feel the effects if customers begin moving more purchases to digital platforms.

The corner shop faces a different kind of competition

For many small shops, selling airtime, data and prepaid electricity is part of the daily business. These transactions bring customers through the door, even when the money earned on each sale is small. A customer might visit a spaza shop to buy R20 of airtime and leave with bread, milk or another household item. The airtime sale is one transaction, but the visit can lead to other purchases.

If that customer starts buying airtime through Sixty60 instead, the shop could lose the visit and the opportunity to sell something else. That is a possible consequence, not a result that has been established since the launch. The impact will depend on how customers use the new service. Someone who already shops at a nearby spaza may continue doing so, while a regular Sixty60 customer may prefer buying airtime through the app.

Small retailers will need to pay attention to how much income prepaid sales generate, whether these purchases bring customers into the shop and what else those customers buy.

There may be less room for businesses relying on prepaid commissions

Airtime and data sales do not always leave a large amount of money with the seller. For a small operator, the business depends on the commission earned, the number of transactions completed and the other products sold to the same customer. A digital platform backed by a large retailer has a different starting point. Shoprite already has a substantial customer base, a delivery operation and an app people use for everyday purchases. Sixty60 generated R25.5 billion in sales in the financial year ended June 2026, according to the group's reported results. 

That gives Shoprite an established channel through which to sell additional services. An independent retailer does not have the same reach or resources. However, it would be premature to conclude that small airtime sellers will lose significant business. Shoprite has not established, through the launch alone, how much prepaid spending it will capture or how much business will shift away from physical shops.

For SMEs, the immediate task is to understand their own numbers. If airtime attracts customers who also buy groceries, snacks or household goods, the value of the service may be greater than the commission alone. If customers only buy airtime and leave, the business case may be weaker.

Shoprite is also moving into the informal retail market

The Sixty60 launch is part of a wider expansion of Shoprite's financial and prepaid services. In August 2026, the group completed the acquisition of a 51% stake in R&A Cellular, a business whose point-of-sale devices help spaza shops and informal traders sell prepaid products and accept card payments. 

That development is important for smaller retailers. Shoprite is not only making prepaid services available through its own digital platform; it is also investing in technology used by businesses in the informal economy.

For a spaza shop, a point of sale device can provide a way to sell airtime, data and electricity while accepting electronic payments. These services may help the shop compete for customers who want more than cash transactions.

The question is how the relationship develops. If technology makes it easier for small shops to offer more services, it could help them. If digital platforms capture more of the transactions customers previously completed in person, the same shift could put pressure on their earnings. Both outcomes are possible, and the results will depend on the products offered, transaction economics and customer behaviour.

What smaller businesses can do

SMEs that depend on prepaid sales should not assume they can compete with Shoprite by matching its digital convenience. They can, however, look at what customers come to them for beyond airtime. A neighbourhood shop might focus on products customers need immediately, reliable opening hours, local delivery, bill payments or other services that fit the needs of its community. A small retailer could also review whether its existing point-of-sale system offers prepaid products, electronic payments and transaction records that help it understand which services make money. For businesses that sell digital products or services, the wider lesson is to avoid relying on one transaction type or one source of commission. 

A business with several complementary income streams is less exposed when a large competitor enters one part of its market. These options will not work equally well for every shop. Owners need to assess local demand, supplier terms and the cost of offering additional services before investing.

The bigger question for SMEs

Shoprite's entry into Sixty60 prepaid sales is another example of a large retailer extending its existing customer relationships into services beyond its core business. It can do this using infrastructure and digital channels it has already built.

For smaller businesses, the concern is not that every customer will suddenly abandon the local shop. It is that small changes in customer behaviour can matter when margins are tight and each sale counts.

Airtime may be a small purchase, but for a shop that processes dozens of transactions a day, the combined value can be meaningful. Losing some of those transactions could affect both commission income and the sale of other goods. The real test will be whether Sixty60 changes where customers buy prepaid services, and whether independent retailers can keep those sales profitable while giving customers reasons to continue visiting their shops.