Big changes for Pick n Pay on-demand delivery in South Africa

Pick n Pay has launched a new app that incorporates its on-demand delivery service Asap, Smart Shopper loyalty programme and other services into one platform.

The group said that the update is its most significant digital milestone since launching Asap, with the back-end and front-end technology completely re-platformed over the last 18 months.

This has created the new ‘Pick n Pay Asap and Smart Shopper’ app. It features improved performance, AI-driven functionality and redesigned user experience.

The group said these improvements will drive strong growth in the coming year.

The new app is in Beta until the end of September 2025, and new features and improvements are added weekly.

Pick n Pay’s Online business, primarily Asap and PnP groceries on the Mr D app, continue to perform well.

Online retail sales for the 53 weeks ended 2 March 2025 grew 48.7% year-on-year, with on-demand growing at 60%. Due to scale gains, the online business is now profitable on a fully costed basis.

“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,” Enrico Ferigolli, Retail Executive: Online at Pick n Pay.

“It’s the culmination of a four-year journey that began with the rapid rollout of on-demand grocery deliveries during the pandemic.”

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

What’s new with Asap

The new Asap app offers a basket limit of 45 items, access to over 35,000 products and has grown to 600 locations in South Africa.

Pick n Pay Asap Growth in new and active customers continues, and average order values are rising as more customers shop for full-basket essentials, not just top-up items.

Although company-owned stores initially drove the growth, the platform now sees growth from franchisees, with triple-digit sales growth in FY25.

“Just three months ago, up to 40% of our fleet was made up of cars. Today, 87% of our deliveries are done via motorbike. This boosts efficiency and speed and gives our brand greater visibility on the road,” said Ferigolli.

“We are also reporting ongoing improvements in key operational metrics, including picking and delivery time. In just the first 11 weeks of FY26, we reduced our average delivery time by a remarkable 24%.”

Using modern technologies optimised for iOS and Android, the new app is designed to scale and evolve.

“We’ve created a future-proof platform that allows us to add features and improve services quickly for a much better user experience.”

New features include for Asap Customers in the app can select their preferred store, load multiple payment cards, place multiple orders at once, track orders and schedule deliveries.

A new pre-authorisation payment system also means customers are only charged for delivered items, eliminating the need for a wallet or refunds.

“In the coming months, we’ll introduce even more exciting features to make shopping at Pick n Pay easier and launch features to resolve customer queries faster, improving the overall delivery experience.”

The app also uses AI search that learns a customer’s shopping behaviour, which offers smarter product suggestions and streamlines the browsing experience.

“If a customer is browsing specials, we’ll prioritise the deals they’re most likely to purchase based on their past purchases,” said Ferigolli.

Integrating Smart Shopper into the app also aims to improve ease of use. For instance, users will see their “Buy Again” section pre-populated with their past purchases, even if the customer had not used Asap.

Customers will also now be able to earn and spend Smart Shopper points with every order, and they’ll soon be able to redeem personalised discounts and Club benefits.

The Smart Shopper section of the app also allows customers to sign up digitally, update their profile, and easily track their points and rewards.

The new ‘Services’ section gives customers the opportunity to pay bills and purchase airtime or data, with more convenient features coming soon.

Pick n Pay’s website will also relaunch with the Asap on-demand service from 1 June 2025.

“Millions of customers still browse catalogues and promotions on desktop, so the opportunity to convert that interest into online purchases is huge,” added Ferigolli.

“These customers can now access the same fast delivery as our Asap customers without the use of the app.”

Website orders from 1 June 2025 will be picked up from 600 Asap locations compared to the prior 47 stores allocated to pnp.co.za orders, allowing the group to lower the delivery fee to just R35.