IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/deveza/v22y2005i2p199-214.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Informal retailing through home-based micro-enterprises: The role of spaza shops

Author

Listed:
  • AA Ligthelm

Abstract

The informal trade sector constitutes an important part of the South African economy, with estimated sales of R32 billion in 2002. Its emergence is largely attributed to the divergence between the growth in population, especially the urban population, and employment growth in the formal economy. Growth of informal enterprises, especially in the retail sector, is also thriving on the demand of less affluent households, whose household needs for unsophisticated and affordable products are aptly supplied by the informal sector. The aim of this article is to focus on one of the prominent sub-sectors of informal retailing, namely spaza or tuck shops, defined as small retail businesses which operate from a residential stand or home. Particular attention is paid to the size, role and characteristics of spaza trade in South Africa, which is estimated to account for nearly 3 per cent of South Africa's retail trade.

Suggested Citation

  • AA Ligthelm, 2005. "Informal retailing through home-based micro-enterprises: The role of spaza shops," Development Southern Africa, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(2), pages 199-214.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:deveza:v:22:y:2005:i:2:p:199-214
    DOI: 10.1080/03768350500163030
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03768350500163030
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/03768350500163030?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Isabelle Guérin & Bert D'Espallier & G. Venkatasubramanian, 2015. "The Social Regulation of Markets: Why Microcredit Fails to Promote Jobs in Rural South India," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 46(6), pages 1277-1301, November.
    2. Amanda J. Muhammad & Alina M. Waite & Dwuena C. Wyre, 2019. "Informal Sector Retail Start-Ups In A Caribbean Context," Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship (JDE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 24(02), pages 1-15, June.
    3. Aalia Cassim & Kezia Lilenstein & Morne Oosthuizen & Francois Steenkamp, 2016. "Informality and Inclusive Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa," Working Papers 201602, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit.
    4. Zuwarimwe, J. & Kirsten, Johann F., 2010. "The role of social networks in development of small-scale enterprises in the Chimanimani district of Zimbabwe," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 49(1), pages 1-22, March.
    5. Verrest, Hebe, 2013. "Rethinking Microentrepreneurship and Business Development Programs: Vulnerability and Ambition in Low-income Urban Caribbean Households," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 58-70.
    6. Marle van Eyk & Felix Amoah & Thembelihle Yase, 2022. "Sustaining the Township Economy: An Investigation into the Factors Influencing the Shopping Experience of Spaza Shop Customers in South Africa," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 14(3), pages 20-32.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:deveza:v:22:y:2005:i:2:p:199-214. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/CDSA20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.