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Pick n Pay partners with Bottles app to offer same-day grocery deliveries

Retail 8 April 2020

Pick n Pay announced that it has partnered with on-demand alcohol delivery app Bottles to allow its customers to top up on essentials from over 70 Pick n Pay stores, for delivery on the same day.

The Grocery Essentials service will help Pick n Pay deliver groceries, at store prices, to customers faster during the nationwide lockdown. While the retailer already offers online shopping through its website and app, the next available delivery slots can be further than a week away due to heightened demand.

With the lockdown and the ban on alcohol sales, the Bottles app was re-engineered to deliver groceries instead of alcohol.

A week after lockdown was announced, the Grocery Essentials service was successfully piloted and it has already expanded to over 70 stores in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban. More stores are expected to be introduced across the country.

“Grocery Essentials will offer customers an easy and more efficient way to stay safe and top up every-day basic essential items – from milk and bread to cooking oil and nappies,” said Jessica Knight, head of online at Pick n Pay in a statement.

The cost of delivery is set at R45 and there is a service fee of R15.

Customers have the choice of over 1,500 products and can purchase up to 30 different products in one order (limits may apply per product).
“Grocery Essentials orders are picked from local Pick n Pay stores. We have integrated the Bottles app with in-store availability to help us deliver on customers’ orders in full wherever possible. Should the product become unavailable from the time of placing the order, the store will always try to find a suitable replacement item.

“We will continue to review products offered on the Grocery Essentials app based on customer feedback, and add the most popular items. We’ve already added over 600 new products since our pilot last week,” says Knight.

Customers will be able to place orders Monday to Saturday between 8am and 3pm, and on Sunday between 8am and 1pm.

Items will be delivered until 7pm (Monday – Saturday) and 5pm on Sunday. Public holiday delivery times may vary and will be confirmed on the Bottles app.

All deliveries will be contactless. Customers can track their delivery on the Bottles app and the driver will notify the customer when they are outside before placing their order at their door or gate.

Customers can find out if the Grocery Essentials is available in their area by downloading the Bottles app and setting their location.

In addition to this, Pick n Pay has established a “Feed the Nation” relief fund to provide food and basic hygiene essentials to the most vulnerable during the lockdown period, and is inviting all South Africans to help feed the nation.

The Feed the Nation campaign will help those South Africans who rely on meal donations every day, and those who don’t have a support system to fall back on during this crisis, says Suzanne Ackerman-Berman, transformation director at Pick n Pay.

“School closures have meant that many schoolchildren who were dependent on school feeding schemes for their main – sometimes only – meal of the day, have been left without food. Shelters for the homeless and orphanages who depend on public generosity are now without aid.”

Pick n Pay is encouraging customers to help Feed the Nation by donating at any Pick n Pay till or through their website (www.pnp.co.za/feed-the-nation ). A donation of just R21 will provide a daily meal to someone in need for a week.

All cash donations will go directly to Joint Aid Management (JAM) and FoodForward SA (FFSA), with a focus on children and shelters. Collectively they work with organisations throughout South Africa and feed over 500,000 people daily.

Customers can help Feed the Nation in three easy ways:

Donate at the till point of any Pick n Pay store
Donate online at www.pnp.co.za/feed-the-nation
Donate Smart Shoppers (this can be done via the PnP app or in-store at the kiosk).