Stakeholder engagement
We take every opportunity to engage with our stakeholders through one-on-one conversations, group discussions, public meetings and civic forums.
This year, a key addition to our programme of engagement involved greater use of surveys to gather formal feedback on stakeholder perceptions of Massmart.
What do our institutional investors say about our sustainability performance?
Major investors in our company were surveyed on their perceptions of our sustainability performance, based on the information provided in last year’s sustainability report. Half said that our performance was excellent – none considered it below average – but most also admitted that sustainability was not necessarily a deciding factor in their investment decisions.
Major investors in our company were surveyed on their perceptions of our sustainability performance, based on the information provided in last year’s sustainability report. Half said that our performance was excellent – none considered it below average – but most also admitted that sustainability was not necessarily a deciding factor in their investment decisions.
What do our customers say about our retail proposition?
To gauge a better appreciation of our customers’ shopping experience in our retail brands, we interviewed 3 183 shoppers over a period of six weeks. Almost all (97.6%) said they would return to shop in our chains, but when asked if environmental issues affect their purchasing decisions in our stores, only 52% indicated that they did.
What do retail journalists say about our media friendliness?
We asked retail journalists who cover news about our company for insight into their perceptions. The areas we focused on most were trustworthiness, honesty and responsiveness. The vast majority of respondents (88%) said we are very or extremely trustworthy, while 17% felt we are moderately trustworthy. Most respondents felt that our divisional management teams require media training.
What do sustainability subject matter experts have to say about our sustainability performance?
We asked independent sustainability experts to rate Massmart’s performance on seven key pillars of sustainable development. Their ratings reveal that they believe Massmart has made the greatest in-roads in the area of broad-based black economic empowerment, but our performance in other areas has been above average relative to our competitors’ performance over the past three years.