How Cape Union Mart accelerates payroll and HR efficiency with Deel

Cape Union Mart, a leading retailer in Southern Africa, operates a large, distributed workforce. But as the business scaled, their outdated payroll and HR system became a roadblock—costing valuable time and creating an over-reliance on external consultants to stay compliant.

Manual payroll processes took up to four days each month and required ongoing third-party support to ensure accuracy, increasing both costs and risk. The team needed a system that could:

• Cut processing time significantly
• Empower internal teams to manage payroll independently
• Automate compliance across regions

Our old payroll used to take up to four days, and we were constantly relying on outside consultants just to keep things moving. We needed a simpler way to manage payroll ourselves. — Brendan Keogh, System Analyst, Cape Union Mart Group

Cape Union Mart turned to Deel Local Payroll to modernize and simplify its payroll operations. As a cloud-native platform designed for in-country payroll, Deel Local Payroll provided real-time updates, mobile access, and a user-friendly interface that enabled full ownership by internal teams.

By removing the dependency on third-party support, Cape Union Mart gained direct control over every aspect of the payroll process. Deel’s built-in compliance automation—including audit-ready reporting and proactive tax updates—ensured the company stayed aligned with evolving local labor laws.

With Deel, payroll processing now takes just half a day, freeing the team to focus on more strategic priorities. The platform supports 3,000+ employees across retail locations, offering real-time accessibility and uninterrupted performance—even during high-demand payroll windows.

"With Deel Local Payroll, we’ve taken full ownership. We no longer depend on external consultants every time something changes." — Brendan Keogh, System Analyst, Cape Union Mart Group

Results Delivered

• Time savings: Payroll run time reduced by 87%
• Cost reduction: Eliminated ongoing consultant fees
• Scalability: Internal teams now manage payroll for thousands of distributed employees
• Compliance: Real-time tax updates and local regulation alignment built in
• Employee experience: Seamless access for store and remote workers alike

"Our payroll now runs in half a day instead of four, there’s no downtime, and even our store staff can access everything on mobile." — Brendan Keogh, System Analyst, Cape Union Mart Group

A trusted platform for long-term growth

The transformation at Cape Union Mart shows what’s possible when a payroll solution is built for autonomy, automation, and scale. Deel not only streamlined payroll—it unlocked new bandwidth for the HR team to focus on process improvements and workplace experience.