Nearly all of Checkers Sixty60’s paying subscribers have used Pixie, the AI-powered shopping assistant the retailer launched in April, according to new figures released by Shoprite Group on Monday – the first hard adoption data for an AI shopping assistant in South African retail.

The group said 98% of Xtra Savings Plus members – the paid subscription tier through which Pixie is exclusively available – have used the assistant within three months of launch, making it one of the fastest-adopted features in Sixty60’s history. Customers have used Pixie’s swipe-to-add functionality to put more than four million products into their baskets, Shoprite said.

Pixie, developed in-house by ShopriteX, the group’s technology and innovation division, uses data from the Xtra Savings rewards programme to learn customers’ shopping habits and predict what they are likely to need next. Its Smart Basket feature pre-builds a suggested order that shoppers can accept with a swipe.

Shoprite said Pixie is contributing to higher average order values. Its most enthusiastic user has added 730 products worth R36 236 to their baskets via the swipe-down gesture, while one customer completed a grocery shop of more than R1 500 – 10 products, well above the average Sixty60 basket value – in 15 seconds, with the order delivered 31 minutes later.

“Talking about AI is one thing, but AI that genuinely saves customers time is another,” said Neil Schreuder, chief of strategy and innovation at ShopriteX, in a statement. “Every unnecessary tap, search and scroll that Pixie removes is friction taken out of the shopping experience. The more customers use it, the better it understands their shopping habits, making each shop simpler and more intuitive than the last.”

Pixie vs Penny

The figures, which have not been independently verified, come just a week after rival Pick n Pay launched Penny, a conversational AI assistant built on Google’s Gemini models, inside its asap! app. The two tools represent a philosophical split in how South Africa’s grocery platforms are deploying AI: Penny starts with open-ended conversation, letting customers build baskets by voice, text or photo, while Pixie leans on predictive replenishment driven by loyalty data.

Watch | Pick n Pay’s Enrico Ferigolli on Penny, the AI that shops for you

The AI race is the latest front in a delivery war Sixty60 has dominated since 2020. The platform notched up R11.9-billion in sales in the six months to December 2025, fulfilling orders from about 875 stores – a lead Pick n Pay’s asap! and Woolworths’ Woolies Dash have spent years trying to close. – © 2026 NewsCentral Media