Sustainability that carries weight at Pepkor Lifestyle

In the fast-paced world of tech retail where innovation is often judged by what’s inside the box, few would expect the humble shopping bag to spark meaningful change. However, for Pepkor Lifestyle’s Tech retail brands, Incredible and HiFiCorp, that’s exactly what happened.

What began as a rethink of checkout packaging has turned into a powerful symbol of everyday sustainability. Since early 2023, both retailers have phased out single-use plastic bags entirely, replacing them with durable, reusable, non-woven alternatives that are designed to last.

This was a deliberate shift anchored in practicality, behavioural insight and the pursuit of long-term environmental change.

Why the bag matters
Retail packaging has long been seen as disposable. Plastic, even when used for just a few minutes, lingers in the environment for decades. Across thousands of transactions each month, those moments add up. For Incredible and HiFiCorp, the shift to reusable bags presented an opportunity to reduce their environmental footprint in a tangible way.

The scale is significant: over 110 000 reusable bags were sold across the two national retailers from January 2023 to May 2024. Conservative estimates suggest that more than 220 000 plastic bags have thus been eliminated from circulation, assuming most large purchases previously required two bags per transaction.

Form meets function
Made by Bags Direct, the same local supplier used by other Pepkor brands, such as PEP, Tekkie Town and Rochester, the bags are designed for real-world use. Offered in two sizes, they retail at R10 and R13, respectively, making them affordable enough to encourage uptake. Surprisingly, this low price offers immense value for customers, since each bag is:

• Branded
• Foldable
• Waterproof
• Heat-sealed
• Tested to carry up to 12 kg
• Engineered for over 250 reuses without tearing or weakening
• Made from 100% GRS-certified recycled materials

The bag dimensions were intentionally designed to fit typical tech purchases with ease, such as smaller accessories, laptops, printers and home appliances. This attention to sizing transforms the bag from a one-off add-on into something that becomes part of the customer’s everyday routine.

Turning retail choices into reusable habits
There’s a psychological component to buying a bag. Research shows that when customers pay for a shopping bag, they’re far more likely to keep it, reuse it and treat it as an asset rather than waste. Pepkor Lifestyle leaned into this behavioural insight with a pricing strategy that signals value.

In doing so, they’ve helped nudge thousands of customers towards more conscious consumption habits, without needing a marketing campaign to make the point. Designed to be functional, reusable and branded for longevity, the bag lives well beyond the checkout counter. It appears in schools, offices, car boots and grocery aisles, transforming a once disposable item into a mobile ambassador for sustainability.

A systemic shift
The switch forms part of a broader mindset shift across the Pepkor Group to eliminate single-use plastics where feasible, support local suppliers and integrate environmental considerations into operational decisions, even in areas where the customer may not notice.

Brands like Rochester have followed suit, sourcing the same Bags Direct supply line to standardise quality, control costs and simplify group-wide implementation. The remaining stock of single-use plastic bags was responsibly recycled, closing the loop on old stock while marking the beginning of a new chapter.

Modelling actions like standardising reusable bags across Pepkor brands, using a shared local supplier and eliminating single-use plastic at scale, means Pepkor Lifestyle is a key player in moving retail forward.