Pieter Engelbrecht

Pieter Engelbrecht is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Shoprite Holdings

Engelbrecht has been a driving force behind the strategic thinking and decisiveness that characterises the Shoprite Group’s actions and has led it to become Africa’s largest and most successful food retailer and low price leader, and South Africa’s largest private sector employer. 

Innovation

His leadership has been characterised by the Group’s mission to be Africa’s most affordable, accessible and innovative retailer, driven by a relentless focus on innovation. This has led to the repositioning of Checkers in the fresh and convenience space, the development of the fast-growing Shoprite and Checkers Xtra Savings rewards programmes, Sixty60 food delivery service, virtual vouchers and growing the reach of community-based Usave stores, among many other innovations.

Engelbrecht successfully steered the Group through the coronavirus pandemic, ensuring job security for the Group’s over 160 000 employees and product availability and a safe shopping environment for its customers, while increasing sales, profitability and market share.   

Under his leadership, the Group is achieving extraordinary, industry-leading growth in sales and profits in a trading environment which has presented unprecedented challenges.

Growth strategy

Engelbrecht and his team are focused on implementing the Group’s growth strategy to maintain its lead in discount retail. The Group’s low-price promise continues to guide daily decision-making, where his key priority is serving customers through a determined focus on lowering prices through an optimised supply chain and world-class operating efficiencies.

His strategy is backed up by his conviction that everything requires team effort, and the implementation of a culture of teamwork and accountability, where every employee contributes to taking the Shoprite vision forward and understands that their role is serving customers.  

Community

It is important to him that the Group is a business with heart, where making profit goes hand in hand with a responsibility to the communities in which it operates, to alleviate hunger and narrow the inequality gap through job creation, job security, skills development, nurturing small businesses and providing them with access to market. 

He is committed to innovating and utilising the Group’s enormous scale to deliver the most affordable retail experience for customers. 

Career highlights

Engelbrecht, a chartered accountant, has an Honours in Accounting Science from UNISA and a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting) from Stellenbosch University. He gained experience in the auditing and corporate finance divisions of PricewaterhouseCoopers from 1993 to 1995 and was the accounting and operations manager at Harwill Industries until joining Shoprite on 1 April 1997.  

Engelbrecht spent 10 years leading the project office, establishing new brands and building many into multi-billion rand businesses. He launched the Money Market financial service counter, USave and LiquorShop, and led the acquisitions of Computicket and Transpharm Pharmaceutical Wholesalers. 

He was appointed to the Board of Shoprite Checkers in 2003 as Alternate Director of Shoprite Holdings and as Chief Operating Officer of Shoprite Checkers in 2005.  

As COO, Engelbrecht strived to drive down costs, played a pivotal role in guiding the Group’s expansion and was instrumental in Shoprite attaining its position as the number one retailer in Africa. He was appointed as CEO on 1 January 2017.  

His leadership has been characterised by the goal of a world-class execution of a clear plan, underscored by an obsession with affordability for customers, and driven by innovation.