Bash unified online and in-store payments with Stitch

TFG’s Bash is one of the first players in South Africa’s retail space that has developed a truly omnichannel offering. Payments is a core pillar of that growth, and Stitch is the engine helping to make it seamless across channels.

When The Foschini Group (TFG) launched Bash, its digital-first retail brand, the company set out to redefine what omnichannel really means in South Africa. Bash quickly became one of the country’s first retailers to truly unify its online and in-store experiences, and payments were a central piece of that ambition. To deliver the same fast, intuitive checkout experience wherever customers chose to shop, Bash partnered with Stitch, a South African fintech company specialising in payment infrastructure and orchestration.

From the early stages of their collaboration, the Bash team challenged Stitch to see whether its solutions could outperform their existing online payment provider. After a head-to-head test, Stitch’s system delivered significantly better results, convincing Bash to move forward with a full integration. What began as a test soon evolved into a strategic partnership, as both teams worked closely to create an ecosystem where payment flows could move effortlessly between digital and physical channels.

Since its public launch in March 2023, Bash has grown at an impressive pace, surpassing one million downloads within six months and reaching 3.8 million by the end of the year. More than 1.2 million customers have engaged with the brand across 420 million shopping sessions, a scale that demanded robust, flexible payment infrastructure. As mobile adoption and online commerce accelerated across South Africa, Bash recognised that its customers were moving fluidly between channels, expecting the same smooth experience wherever they shopped. Payments needed to evolve accordingly, to support more methods, improve conversion, and ensure consistency across every touchpoint.

“Our payments ecosystem is really interesting,” explained Bash’s CEO and Co-Founder, Luke Jedeiken. “In our store environment it’s all in-person payments, and online it’s typical gateway methods. What we’re doing alongside Stitch is really building an orchestration model that allows both sets of payments to be used in both environments.” It was an ambitious goal that required a trusted partner capable of adapting fast. “As soon as you change your partner, and particularly in payments, which is such a critical moment in the customer journey, there’s always a risk,” added Greg Walsh, Head of Fintech at Bash. “And so we felt at the time there was a risk worth taking with the Stitch team.”

The partnership evolved quickly. Bash first implemented Stitch’s Pay by Bank for online transactions, later expanding to card and in-person payments following Stitch’s acquisition of ExiPay. From there, the collaboration grew to include digital wallets such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay, all integrated through Stitch’s Wallet SDKs. The result was a marked improvement in both checkout speed and conversion rates. “The best payments experience is one that you don’t think about,” said Kiaan Pillay, Co-Founder and CEO of Stitch. “Delivering digital wallets for Bash and having it in the hands of customers, having it in my own hands, is super powerful. We wanted not only to build a high-performing payment product, but also to design a thoughtful integration. That’s where the Stitch wallet SDKs came in.”

The impact was immediate. Bash reduced checkout times by tenfold, from around one minute to just five seconds when using Apple Pay, and saw conversion rates rise by 35 to 40 percent overnight compared to card payments. Within a week of launch, half of all iOS transactions had shifted to digital wallets, and the same frictionless flow was soon mirrored in Bash’s physical stores. “If you look at Bash and Stitch, it’s probably a dream partnership for us,” noted Dewald Müller, Head of Customer Success at Stitch. “It’s founded on so many similarities between the two businesses.”

For Bash, payments are not just a back-office function; they are part of the retail experience itself. As Jedeiken put it, “What the world’s best omnichannel players have shown is it’s not about killing stores, it’s about making them better, introducing in-store shoppers to benefits typically reserved for online, like more choice, more ways to pay, and faster delivery.” Pillay echoed the sentiment from the fintech side: “Fintech sits squarely in the middle of bridging these two worlds. If we can be the bridge and allow Bash and TFG to seamlessly identify that customer and transaction regardless of where it happens, it enables a powerful experience.”

Together, Bash and Stitch are demonstrating how thoughtful technology integration can turn payments from a logistical necessity into a strategic advantage. By reimagining the role of checkout in the retail journey, they are shaping a more unified, intelligent, and customer-centred future for South African commerce.