South Africa’s pharmacy battle is increasingly being fought over how much shoppers pay at the checkout. Clicks Group is offering instant 10% discounts on more than 2,500 health, beauty and wellness products as it seeks to strengthen customer loyalty amid intensifying competition with Dis-Chem.

The stakes are substantial for Clicks, whose 12.9 million active ClubCard members account for 83.7% of sales. Retaining these customers is critical as competing rewards programmes give shoppers more reasons to switch where they buy their everyday health and personal care products.

The value of that customer base goes beyond membership numbers. ClubCard members typically spend roughly twice as much per basket as non-members, while Clicks returned R527 million($31.87 million) to members in the six months to February and attracted 800,000 new members during the period.

These figures underline why the retailer is investing in benefits designed to keep its customers shopping with the chain.

Discounts become a tool for driving sales

Clicks’ expanded offer comes as promotional products already account for 47.8% of its turnover. The company also changed its cashback cycle earlier in 2026, moving from payments every two months to monthly payments.

Members continue to earn 2% cashback on qualifying purchases, rising to 4% for Baby Club members and seniors shopping on Wednesdays.

Clicks has also added Standard Bank’s uCount Rewards and Absa Rewards to its existing FNB eBucks partnership.

Eligible members of the new banking partners can earn up to 30% back on health and beauty purchases.

These benefits give Clicks more ways to attract spending through its loyalty network. However, the retailer has not disclosed how it funds the new instant discounts, leaving an important question about the economics of the offer unanswered.

Dis-Chem provides evidence of the sales potential

The opportunity is illustrated by Dis-Chem’s Better Rewards programme, launched in October 2025. It offers 10% discounts on more than 10,000 products across over 180 brands, with additional benefits for eligible Capitec clients, Dis-Chem insurance customers and pharmacy users.

At its 2026 results presentation, Dis-Chem CEO Rui Morais said the programme is collectively funded by the retailer and participating suppliers. Some funding previously allocated to benefit points and partner associations was redirected towards instant discounts.

Dis-Chem reported that value growth for participating brands increased from 6.1% before the programme to 11.8%, while volume growth rose from 5.7% to 18.7%. The company said the initiative was helping it gain market share.

Those results show why discounts can matter beyond the immediate price reduction: they can encourage customers to buy more and help participating brands sell greater volumes. However, the results do not establish that Clicks will achieve the same outcome.

A bigger retail network to defend

Founded in 1968, Clicks is South Africa’s largest retail pharmacy chain and a leading health, beauty and wellness retailer. Listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange since 1996, it recently reached 1,003 stores, including 795 pharmacies.

Its membership base has more than doubled over the past decade, giving the retailer a substantial platform for customer retention and sales growth.

The key test is whether the expanded discounts generate enough additional purchases and repeat visits to justify their cost. With ClubCard members already responsible for most of Clicks’ sales, even small changes in their shopping behaviour could have significant consequences for the business.