In a major step toward the professionalisation of the retail sector and the advancement of
data-driven retail education, the Retail Institute of South Africa (RISA™) has strengthened
its strategic partnership with IRL Consulting, a globally recognised retail intelligence and
geospatial analytics firm operating from South Africa and Dubai.

The collaboration brings together RISA’s professional education and designation framework
with IRL’s world-class retail analytics platforms, enabling retailers, students, executives, and
institutions to access real-world intelligence tools as part of their professional development
journey.

The partnership reflects a shared vision: transforming retail from an operational job sector into
a recognised professional discipline supported by structured career pathways, measurable
competencies, and advanced analytics capability.

A New Era for Retail as a Profession

RISA serves as South Africa’s professional body for the retail sector, conferring structured
professional designations and qualifications aligned to industry competencies. Through its academic partnerships—including Regenesys Business School (South Africa) and Eaton Business School (UAE). RISA now delivers a globally aligned retail education ecosystem spanning Africa, the Middle East, and international markets.

This expanded global academic footprint ensures that students entering the retail profession
are trained using live market intelligence, advanced analytics, and practical industry datasets.

Nazim Cassim, Founder of RISA, commented, “Retail is one of the largest employers in the economy, yet historically one of the least professionally structured sectors. This partnership ensures our members and students are not only qualified—they are operationally prepared for real-world decision-making in a digital retail economy.”

IRL Consulting: Bringing Global Retail Intelligence into Education

IRL Consulting is a specialized retail data science and geospatial intelligence organization providing mobility data, customer analytics, and location intelligence platforms, including MAYA, Market Metrics Pro, and Suburb Optimizer. With operational presence in both South Africa and Dubai, IRL supports retailers internationally with advanced tools that enable smarter expansion decisions, customer behavior modeling, and competitive market analysis.

Through the partnership with RISA, IRL will support:

Professional workshops aligned to RISA Continuing Professional Development
(CPD) standards. This ensures retail professionals develop not only theoretical knowledge but also the analytical capability increasingly required in modern retail leadership.

John Crabb, CEO of IRL Consulting, added, “Retail is increasingly driven by data, mobility insight, and predictive intelligence. Our collaboration with RISA ensures that the next generation of retail professionals is not only academically trained but also equipped with the analytical tools and real-world data sets required to make confident, evidence-based decisions.

By integrating global retail intelligence directly into professional education and CPD, we are helping build a workforce that understands markets not just conceptually but operationally. Together with RISA and its academic partners, we are contributing to the development of a truly modern, globally capable retail profession.”