Pick n Pay Online, South Africa’s largest online grocery retailer, is now offering a larger range of non-food items for delivery. This followed the recent announcement by Minister Ebrahim Patel that all permitted goods may now be sold online.

The non-food items that will be available online for delivery or “Click n Collect” under level four lockdown includes home entertainment items, such as televisions and gaming, and white goods, such as fridges, freezers, ovens, dishwashers, washing machines and tumble dryers. Camping and patio furniture will also be available.

Delivery of these heavier items is available in all major cities nationally and “Click n Collect” lets customers purchase their items online and collect their order from any hypermarket.

The COVID-19 outbreak has significantly accelerated the demand for online shopping and many shoppers turned to Pick n Pay Online for their grocery shop. Since the end of March 2020, Pick n Pay’s online shop has had more than 144,000 new customers registered online. This is 8x more registrations than the previous year. Pick n Pay online also experienced a 200% increase in active transacting online customers during the period. 

Last year the retailer significantly enhanced its online offering, which included changing its logistics partner and investing in a dedicated online customer services team. Jessica Knight, Head of Pick n Pay Online, says that this helped them rapidly increased the online shop’s capacity and reach to meet the needs of many new customers who have turned to online shopping since the country went into lockdown.

“We have increased our delivery slots for our online shop, which has meant customers can now get a slot within a few days of placing their order. Customers can currently get a delivery slot within three to five days, depending on the area. 

Knight says they are seeing a high percentage of returning customers. “This shows how many first-time online shoppers are really enjoying the ease and convenience of online shopping. We’ve also made it very easy to shop online, for instance, customers have their own personalised ‘aisle’ with their favourite items and they can create a shopping list for regular purchases.”  

Pick n Pay also leveraged its partnership with the Bottles app to launch their “Grocery Essentials” same day delivery service. This was done within days of the lockdown being announced and they now pick from over 95 stores across the country. This extended reach has helped Pick n Pay deliver to areas previously outside its delivery network, such as Port Elizabeth, Soweto and Diepkloof.

Knight explains the trends they have seen with customers using their online delivery options during lockdown. “Our average PnP online shop customer will place a larger order through our website and these are usually weekly or monthly shops to restock core grocery items, and cleaning or hygiene products. Our ‘on demand’ customers, placing orders through the Bottles app, generally shop more frequently and use the same-day delivery to top up on essential items and fresh produce.”

Many of Pick n Pay’s franchise stores are still offering ‘Click Direct’ which encourages customers to email or WhatsApp their orders directly to the store, for collection or delivery.