Pharmacare major Clicks says mounting competition across the retail, pharmacy and online sectors is emerging as one of the biggest risks to its growth strategy, even as the group pushes ahead with aggressive expansion plans. In its 2025 integrated report, the pharmacy and beauty retailer said its long-term performance depends on defending market share in an environment where national food chains, general merchandise retailers, online players and other pharmacy groups are all expanding into healthcare and medicines – a space where Clicks has historically dominated. The group said: “Aggressive competition could result in loss of market share, the inability to maintain market position and ultimately threaten profitability.” It singled out two key threats, including grocery retailers moving into over-the-counter and healthcare categories and online retailers leveraging fast-delivery models that could undermine Clicks’ convenience advantage.
The group also faces risk in its pharmaceutical distributor UPD. The retailer said intense rivalry from other third-party distribution businesses could erode market share and challenge profitability. This comes even with UPD stabilising after a major systems overhaul and reporting a 2% rise in managed turnover to R30.5bn.
The retailer also mentioned the growing struggle to keep shelves stocked in a volatile global supply chain. Disruptions linked to geopolitics, vendor shortages or internal inefficiencies could lead to stockouts, a particularly costly risk in health and medicines, where customers quickly switch to competing providers. Poor availability in stores or online, the group said, not only results in lost sales but can damage its reputation and weaken its competitive position.
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These challenges land at a critical time for Clicks, which is pursuing a retail-led health, beauty and wellness strategy aimed at expanding store access, accelerating pharmacy market share gains and strengthening its online offering. The group said it is responding by pushing harder into its own competitive strengths. The retailer opened a net 55 stores and 60 pharmacies in the past year, taking its footprint to more than 990 stores and 780 pharmacies.
Convenience-format locations now make up 77% of the network, and one in four Clicks stores is situated in lower-income areas, which contributed 23.7% of turnover. The group plans to open another 40–50 stores and the same number of pharmacies in the new year as it moves toward its medium-term target of 1,200 outlets. Clicks is also expanding UniCare, its 24-hour large pharmacy format, and integrating alternative delivery solutions such as smart lockers to boost convenience as online rivals grow stronger.
It is investing further in its mobile app and loyalty scheme, which remains one of its biggest defensive tools: ClubCard customers now total 12.6-million and generated more than 82% of total sales. Private-label products are another key pillar of its response to intensifying competition. These ranges, which are typically higher margin, now account for more than a quarter of total sales and grew faster than the rest of the business.
Clicks aims to lift private label’s contribution to 35% of front-shop sales over the medium term, improving pricing competitiveness and differentiation. CEO Bertina Engelbrecht told shareholders the group delivered a “strong operational and financial performance” in a constrained consumer environment. She said Clicks’ defensive business model, brand strength and scale continue to give it an edge, even as trading conditions failed to improve as expected.
Dis-Chem, Clicks’ most direct rival, recently launched one of its most aggressive expansion phases to date. Dis-Chem is rolling out a rapid “land-grab” strategy that will expand its retail space by about 45% over three years, with a heavy push into provinces where Clicks has historically dominated, including the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
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