South African retailer Pick n Pay has released its interim results for the 26 weeks ending 28 August 2022, which show an 82% growth in online sales during the first half of its current financial year.
The retailer attributed the growth to the August 2021 relaunch of its on-demand online offering, Pick n Pay Asap! as well as its scheduled delivery service.
To achieve its Ekuseni strategic plan goal of building a market-leading online grocery business, Pick n Pay announced in early October that it had reached a commercial services agreement with the Takealot Group, to work in conjunction with Mr. D, South Africa’s leading online delivery service. This collaboration is to launch a Pick n Pay food and grocery service on the Mr. D app.
The delivery service went live with a limited number of Pick n Pay stores in early October and is on track to expand to 300 stores nationwide by December 2022, according to Pick n Pay.
Pick n Pay stated that it is confident that this partnership will drive incremental but ultimately significant online growth as the retailer combines its extensive store network, stock management system, fresh product offerings, and in-store pickup experience with Mr D’s unmatched strengths in user-interface design, a 2.5 million active customer base, and a delivery fleet of 15,000 scooters.
“This new dedicated grocery shopping experience with Pick n Pay through the Mr D app allows customers to shop over 10,000 food and grocery products — at the same price as in-store — for delivery in an hour,” said Mr. D’s CEO, Alexander Wörz. “Customers place the order on the Mr D. app, Pick n Pay does the picking in its stores, and Mr D’s delivery partners then collect and deliver the order to the customer,” Wörz concluded.
Despite its impressive performance on the online front, Pick n Pay is dwarfed by Shoprite, another South African retailer, whose Checkers Sixty60 platform reported a 250% surge in online orders on the app and over 2 million downloads for 26 weeks ending January 2022, creating over 4,000 jobs in the process.
Pick n Pay will be hoping that its partnership with Mr. D. will further support the growth of its online presence, enabling the retail giant to catch up to its fierce rival, Shoprite and setting the scene for an intense battle between the two South African retail giants.
