Case Studies Builders Employee Experience Platform
Employee Experience Azure Entra ID White Label Awards & Recognition Data-Free Access

How Builders built a thriving employee culture across 174 stores with Social Wiiv.

Since 2019, Social Wiiv has been Builders' trusted Employee Experience Platform partner — powering a white-label, Azure Entra ID integrated platform that serves 20,000+ employees across 174 national stores. The platform drives awards and recognition, compliance, internal communications, employee wellbeing, and cultural transformation — all from a single, data-free accessible hub branded entirely in the Builders identity.

7+
Years Partnership
20K+
Employees
174
National Stores
2019
Partnership Since
Builders — Employee Experience Platform
About Builders

Builders is South Africa's leading home improvement retailer — operating 174 stores nationwide under the Builders Warehouse, Builders Express, and Builders Trade Depot banners. A wholly-owned subsidiary of Massmart (a Walmart company), Builders employs over 20,000 people across the country, from store-floor advisors and trade specialists to logistics staff and head office teams. Connecting and energising this workforce is a mission-critical people challenge at enterprise scale.

Partnership Since
2019
7+ year ongoing relationship
Platform Type
Employee Experience Platform
White Label · Custom Domain
Industry
Retail — Home Improvement
Employee Experience · Internal Comms
Use Cases
Awards & Recognition Compliance Internal Comms White Label Wellbeing Data-Free Mobile App Instagram
Platform Scale
Employees 20,000+
National Stores 174
Mobile Android & iOS
Authentication Azure Entra ID
Data Access Reverse Billed

Engaging 20,000+ store employees across 174 locations — building culture, recognising achievement, and driving compliance.

Builders operates one of South Africa's most dynamic retail employee environments. Store-floor advisors, trade specialists, logistics crews, and management teams span Builders Warehouse, Builders Express, and Builders Trade Depot locations across every province — from flagship hypermarkets to neighbourhood stores. The challenge of reaching, recognising, and developing this workforce at scale required a platform solution built for the realities of a high-footfall, multi-location retail business.

 — A geographically dispersed workforce with limited desk access, requiring mobile-first communications that work without personal data spend
 — Awards and recognition programmes that needed to feel meaningful and visible at both store and national level
 — Compliance communications requiring trackable, verifiable delivery across all 174 stores
 — Internal marketing and brand awareness that could reach staff on the floor, not just in offices
 — Employee wellbeing and sentiment monitoring across a large, diverse retail workforce
 — Enterprise-grade authentication requirements — with Microsoft Azure Entra ID (managed through Massmart) as the access standard

"Retail employees are the face of the brand — every interaction a Builders team member has with a customer is shaped by how connected, valued, and informed they feel. We needed a platform that made every one of those 20,000 people feel like they're part of something bigger than their store."

— Builders People & Culture Team

A white-label Employee Experience Platform — branded, data-free, and built for 174 stores.

Social Wiiv designed and deployed a fully white-labelled Employee Experience Platform on a custom Builders domain — integrated with Azure Entra ID (via Massmart) for secure single sign-on, and enabled with Reverse Billing so every employee can access the platform on their mobile device without spending personal data. Since 2019, the platform has evolved continuously alongside Builders' people strategy, adding new features and capabilities as engagement priorities grow and change.

Azure Entra ID SSO (via Massmart) · White Label · Custom Domain

1. Platform Foundation — Azure Entra ID & White-Label Identity

The Builders platform is built on a fully white-labelled foundation — custom domain, custom branding, custom navigation, and a fully bespoke UI that reflects the Builders visual identity throughout. Access is managed through Microsoft Azure Entra ID, operated by Massmart — meaning every Builders employee authenticates using their existing corporate credentials with no separate registration or password required.

Azure Entra ID (via Massmart) — employee access is managed through Massmart's Azure Entra ID — single sign-on across the Massmart group, enterprise-grade security, no separate credentials required
Fully White-Labelled UI — custom logos, favicon, homepage layout, navigation, footer, menu sizing, custom CSS, and custom font uploads — the platform is 100% Builders-branded
Secure Data API — a secure Data API manages Builders' employee data, syncing with the HRS system to add, edit, update, and deactivate employee accounts in real time, ensuring the platform always reflects the live workforce
Custom Organisational Structure — custom locations, branches, divisions, departments, teams, and sub-teams mirror Builders' real store hierarchy — enabling precise content targeting at every level from national to individual store

14 employee-facing features — recognition, content, social, compliance, and mobile in one platform.

The Builders Employee Experience Platform is built on Social Wiiv's modular addon architecture — giving Builders full control over which features are active, who sees them, when they appear, and what actions they reward. Every feature includes targeting, scheduling, an audit trail, points allocation, categories, search, comments, and social actions — all configured directly through the admin CMS.

Azure Entra ID SSO
Seamless single sign-on via Massmart's Azure Entra ID — employees log in with their existing corporate credentials, no additional accounts or passwords required.
Profile Completeness
Employees earn points for updating and completing their personal profile — driving data quality, platform adoption, and an early sense of ownership and participation.
Banner Ads
Static and animated banners — up to 6 carousel slides with custom URLs, open in same or new tab, and full click tracking. Drive recognition campaigns, compliance deadlines, and store promotions.
Sentiment Check-in
Daily or weekly sentiment check-ins to monitor employee satisfaction, mood, health, and cultural ethos — giving Builders real-time insight into workforce wellbeing across all 174 stores.
Documents
Secure, targeted access to important internal documents — policies, compliance packs, HR resources, and operational guides — with full tracking of who accessed which document.
News, Articles & Videos
Corporate news, store updates, vacancies, benefits communications, wellness content, and leadership messages — all publishable in rich media with full targeting.
Magazines
Upload PDF files transformed into interactive 3D magazines with a page-flip effect, zoom in/out, and a built-in search feature — bringing internal publications to life on any device.
Photo Gallery
Create albums, upload photos from stores and events, and let employees like, dislike, love, and comment on content. Full tracking of who viewed which photo or album.
Polls
Quick employee opinion polls — lightweight engagement to capture workforce sentiment and preferences without the friction of a full survey.
Surveys
Custom survey builder for employee feedback and insights — configurable by the Builders People team to capture structured input from across the store network.
Custom Pages
WYSIWYG page builder for custom content pages — awards programme hubs, compliance resource pages, campaign landing pages, and more, built without developer support.
Take Me To
Tracked internal and external shortcut links — with full click tracking analytics on every destination. One tap to key tools, portals, and resources.
Instagram Integration
Builders' Instagram page is integrated directly into the platform — company posts aggregated into the portal, with points awarded for following the account and engaging with posts.
Mobile App & Push Notifications
Native Android and iOS apps give store employees full platform access on the devices they carry every day. Targeted push notification campaigns reach staff directly on their phones.
Universal Content Controls — Applied to Every Feature
Targeting — public, all authenticated users, or filtered by country, location, branch, user type, gender, or specific tags
Scheduling — start and end date/time for every piece of content, no manual publish/unpublish required
Audit Trail — full log of who created, edited, and published every content item
Points / Credits — reward any action: read, watch, complete, or download
Categories — sub-categories with optional images/icons for every feature module
Social Actions — like, dislike, love, share, and comment on any content item

Enterprise administration — email, SMS, analytics, and full brand control without developer dependency.

Behind the employee-facing platform sits a full-featured admin CMS that gives the Builders People & Culture team — and their designated moderators, content creators, and analytics viewers — complete control over every aspect of the platform. Day-to-day publishing, campaign management, reporting, and user administration all happen without needing developer support.

Business Logins & Role Management
Multiple admin user types: Administrator, Moderator, Content Creator, Content Viewer, and Stats Viewer — each with precisely scoped access ensuring the right people can see and do only what they need to, without risk of unintended changes across the platform.
Custom UI Design — Full Brand Control
Custom logos and favicon, custom homepage layout, custom navigation structure, custom footer, custom menu sizing, custom CSS overrides, and custom font uploads — the Builders platform looks and feels entirely like a Builders-built product, not a third-party platform.
Terminologies — Rename Any Feature
Every platform feature and function can be renamed to match Builders' own internal language — creating a seamless branded experience where the platform speaks the Builders vocabulary, not generic product labels.
Locations — Stores, Branches & Teams
Add and manage custom locations — stores, branches, divisions, departments, teams, and sub-teams — mirroring Builders' real organisational hierarchy. This structure enables content targeting at any level from national down to an individual store department, and drives accurate per-location reporting and analytics.
Email Campaigns — Bulk SMTP
Bulk email campaigns from a custom Builders email address, using custom-designed email templates with merge fields and full audience segmentation — the same precision targeting as the platform's content engine, applied to email communications reaching all 20,000+ employees.
SMS Campaigns — API Relay
Bulk SMS campaigns sent via API Relay with merge fields — reaching employees directly on their personal devices regardless of app usage, ensuring critical compliance, safety, and operational communications land even when staff are not actively on the platform.
Platform Statistics — Real-Time Analytics
Real-time graphs and stats across every feature and addon — filterable by branch, location, or date range, with full data export to Excel. Google Tag Manager integration provides advanced analytics tracking. Every engagement metric, compliance read-receipt, and sentiment data point is accessible to the right stakeholder at the right level.
Secure Data API — Employee Records
A secure Data API manages the complete Builders employee dataset across all 174 stores — syncing continuously with the HRS system (via Massmart) to add, edit, update, and deactivate employees in real time, ensuring the platform always reflects the current workforce.

Native apps, push notifications, and data-free access — built for store-floor employees.

Mobile Applications — Android & iOS

The Builders Employee Experience Platform is available as native applications on both Android and iOS — giving store-floor employees access on the devices they carry every day, without requiring a desktop or computer terminal. Push notification campaigns allow the Builders People team to reach all employees or specific store segments directly on their phones with targeted, time-sensitive communications — whether for a recognition moment, a compliance deadline, or a safety update.

Android & iOS Native Apps — full platform functionality in a native mobile experience, available for all Builders employees across all 174 stores
Push Notification Campaigns — targeted push notifications to all employees or specific store/division segments, driving re-engagement and timely communications without relying on email or SMS
Data-Free Access
Reverse Billing
Store-floor employees access the platform on their mobile devices without using their own personal data. The data cost is reverse billed directly to Builders — ensuring every employee, regardless of data affordability, can participate fully in the platform.
Zero cost to the employee — every byte is on Builders

"A store assistant on the floor shouldn't have to choose between their personal data budget and staying connected to the company. Data-free access makes the platform genuinely inclusive — it reaches the people who need it most."

— Builders People & Culture Team

From awards and recognition to cultural transformation — a single platform for every EX priority.

The Builders Employee Experience Platform isn't a single programme — it's the infrastructure that powers Builders' entire people strategy. Since 2019, the platform has been the delivery mechanism for Builders' most important employee experience initiatives, evolving continuously as the business grows and as new priorities emerge across its 174-store national footprint.

Awards & Recognition
Employee recognition programmes — spotlighting store champions, long-service milestones, and performance achievements — delivered at scale through the platform, making every team member feel seen and valued across the Builders network.
Compliance
Compliance communications, policy updates, and regulatory content delivered with trackable read-receipts across all 174 stores — ensuring every employee has received, acknowledged, and engaged with critical compliance material.
Internal Marketing & Awareness
Internal campaigns, brand awareness initiatives, and product promotions targeted to store teams — driving alignment between Builders' commercial strategy and the employees who deliver it on the floor every day.
Employee Wellbeing
Wellbeing content, mental health resources, and daily Sentiment Check-ins give Builders real-time insight into workforce mood and health — enabling proactive support before issues escalate across the store network.
Cultural Transformation
Supporting growth, restructuring, and cultural transformation with tailored EX strategies — the platform's content and targeting architecture enables Builders to deploy change communications precisely and measurably across every store and division.
Employee Voice & Performance
Surveys, Polls, and Sentiment Check-ins give every Builders employee — from store assistant to regional manager — a structured channel to be heard and a reason to engage daily, driving both satisfaction and performance.
Platform Scale — Builders by the Numbers
7+
Years as a client
20K+
Employees on platform
174
National stores
2019
Partnership since

Build Your Own Employee Experience Platform.

Whether you're a growing retail business or a national enterprise with tens of thousands of employees — Social Wiiv can design and deploy a white-label, Azure-integrated Employee Experience Platform tailored to your workforce, your culture, and your goals.