Pick n Pay on Tuesday said online sales nearly doubled in its most reporting period compared to the same period last year as shoppers warm to buying their groceries on the Internet.
The retail group said that in the 18 weeks ended 3 July 2022, total online sales, which include scheduled delivery, click and collect and its asap! on-demand online service, grew by 97.3%. It didn’t provide a gross value for the sales.
“Progress towards our goal of a step-change increase in online sales continues. The launch of a dedicated Pick n Pay food and grocery offer on the Mr D App is on track. The initial launch will be in a limited number of stores in August, with national coverage targeted by the end of February 2023,” it said in a statement to shareholders.
Much of the strong growth in online sales likely came from Pick n Pay asap!, which grew its sales by 300% in the year ended February 2022.
Delivery apps like Pick n Pay asap! and Shoprite Group’s Checkers Sixty60 have enjoyed strong growth since the Covid-19 hard lockdown in 2020 forced many consumers to consider online shopping for the first time, or to ramp up their online spending.
Pick n Pay earlier this year made “significant enhancements” to its mobile app and its in-store picking interface to simplify the user experience. This included improved navigation, ordering and checkout.
In May, Pick n Pay and Naspers-owned Takealot Group announced that they had signed a commercial services agreement that would allow customers to buy Pick n Pay food, groceries and liquor on a new platform on Takealot’s Mr D app.
‘Huge potential’
“Pick n Pay will bring its tremendous expertise in running fresh food and grocery, its nationwide store network, and its leading Smart Shopper loyalty programme. The Takealot Group will bring its proven ability to satisfy online, its technical expertise, and its unrivalled delivery network,” the companies said in a joint statement at the time.
Pick n Pay CEO Pieter Boone said in the joint statement, in a clear challenge to Shoprite Group’s market-leading Checkers Sixty60 app: “There is huge potential for omnichannel retail in this country. Through this agreement with Takealot, we intend to regain market leadership in online grocery, and to do so in a sustainable and profitable way. We plan to increase our online revenue eight-fold by the 2026 financial year.” — © 2022 NewsCentral Media
