Pick n Pay launches new app marking milestone in online strategy

SOUTH AFRICA – Pick n Pay has launched a new app that brings together its delivery service asap!, the Smart Shopper loyalty programme, and value-added services on one platform, marking its biggest online development since 2020.

The app, which is still in Beta until the end of September 2025, has been rebuilt over 18 months. It offers faster performance, a better layout, and new features aimed at improving the shopping experience.

Users can now pick their preferred store, pay with more than one card, track their deliveries, and schedule them outside the usual one-hour slot. A new payment method also means customers are only charged for items actually delivered.

“This new app is the biggest moment for Pick n Pay Online since we launched asap! in 2020, a move that grew online sales more than elevenfold in under five years,” said Enrico Ferigolli, Retail Executive: Online at Pick n Pay.

“Now, we’ve brought our online services into one seamless platform, a major step to accelerate growth and improve the customer experience.”

The company’s Online business has grown steadily. In the 53 weeks ending 2 March 2025, online retail sales rose 48.7 percent year-on-year. The on-demand section, mostly driven by asap! and Mr D orders, grew 60 percent. With better scale, the business is now profitable on a fully costed basis.

The new app now offers access to over 35,000 products and allows orders of up to 45 items. It operates in 600 locations across South Africa. More customers are using it to do full-basket shopping rather than just buying a few items.

While early growth focused on company-owned stores, franchise stores are now showing strong results as well. Sales from franchisees grew in triple digits during the last financial year.

The success of the app fits into Pick n Pay’s wider recovery plan, which began under CEO Sean Summers. “The broader business has undergone significant transformation, and online has been no exception. We were given the green light to make bold changes, many long overdue, and we’ve completely restructured store operations and logistics to support our online growth,” said Ferigolli.

Just a few months ago, 40 percent of deliveries were made by car. Now, 87 percent are done using motorbikes. This switch has helped speed up deliveries and improve service. “In just the first 11 weeks of FY26, we reduced our average delivery time by a remarkable 24%,” Ferigolli added.

In addition to launching the app, Pick n Pay also shared progress on its larger turnaround strategy. It reported a 64 percent reduction in trading loss, beating its target of a 50 percent cut. Like-for-like sales in its main supermarkets improved, even as competition remained strong.

“We have started to give much-needed attention to our core Pick n Pay supermarkets,” said Summers. “We are pleased to see the early results in reporting positive like-for-like sales growth.”

To strengthen its finances, the company raised R12.5 billion (US$750 million USD) through a rights offer and a separate listing of its Boxer brand on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. These moves brought the company to a net cash position of R4.2 billion (US$240 million).

Pick n Pay also reviewed its store portfolio. It shut or changed the status of some stores and returned several from losses to profitability. The company now plans to open new stores and improve existing ones to better serve shoppers.

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