Retail chain Pick n Pay and online store Takealot have signed a commercial services agreement which will enable customers across South Africa to buy Pick n Pay food, groceries and liquor on a new platform on the food delivery services application (app) Mr D.  

In a statement issued on May 17, the companies said the new service would bring together their respective strengths.

Pick n Pay would bring its expertise in running fresh food and grocery retail outlets, as well as its nationwide store network, as well as its Smart Shopper loyalty programme.

Meanwhile, Takealot will bring online retail and technical expertise, as well as its established delivery network.

Under the agreement, when customers open the Mr D app, they will be offered the choice to either buy groceries or order meals from restaurants. By clicking on the option to buy groceries, customers will enter a dedicated Pick n Pay food and grocery digital store in the Mr D app.

Customers will be able to browse and select the items they want to buy and then create their baskets. Once the order is submitted and paid, Pick n Pay will pick and pack the order from the nearest Pick n Pay store, which will then be collected by a member of the Takealot delivery fleet and delivered to the customer.

Pick n Pay’s Smart Shopper loyalty programme will be embedded into the Mr D app so that customers will still be able to earn points when buying Pick n Pay groceries through the app.

“By working with Takealot, customers will . . . benefit from a bigger, better, faster and more exciting offer . . . This is a new era for Pick n Pay and for its customers. 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,” Pick n Pay CEO Pieter Boone said.

He added that the company planned to increase its online revenue eight-fold by the 2026 financial year.

Takealot executive chairperson Kim Reid believed Mr D’s 2.5-million customers would be “delighted” to see a Pick n Pay grocery offer appear on the platform. 

“The combination of Pick n Pay’s reach, quality and pricing, together with Takealot’s . . . technology and scalable delivery network is a recipe for success. Scalability will be a huge advantage. Takealot . . . currently delivers over five-million packages per month, with the ability and ambition to serve many more customers as demand for this offer grows,” Reid said. 

Pick n Pay and Takealot intend to launch the service on a trial basis in Cape Town in August, with plans to roll it out nationwide by the end of the 2023 financial year.