Van Schaik has over 70 stores across the country, as well as an online store. This aims to make it easier for parents in urban and rural areas to buy their children's back to school textbook and stationery requirements.

"Van Schaik has decided to service schools as we are an educational brand and because we see a massive need in the school market for a national textbook and stationery supplier," says Van Schaik MD, Stephan Erasmus.

"It makes complete sense for the brand to extend its offering into schools, as we have been working with universities and other higher educational institutions for many years. We understand the academic market and we have excellent relationships with all the academic publishers," adds Erasmus.

"The school market is substantial with very few players servicing the sector. There were over 12 400 000 learners registered at 23 796 government schools, and over 400 000 learners registered at 1 966 private schools in South Africa in 2019," Erasmus says.

"Van Schaik's national footprint — plus our established supply systems — enable us to service schools, parents and learners across South Africa," says Van Schaik COO, Ugan Poobalan.

"We are familiar with what customers need — with consumers being cash-strapped in the current economy, the Van Schaik store card is proving to be a huge help, enabling parents to get all their children's school material when they need to and pay later," adds Poobalan.

"Our staff go into the schools in the vicinity of our stores and obtain their booklists, and we keep a wide range of study guides and stationery so we can be sure we have what our customers need," concludes Poobalan.

For more information, visit www.vanschaik.com. You can also Van Schaik on Facebook, Twitter or on Instagram.