Pick n Pay concludes deal to buy online grocery service Bottles
Pick n Pay said the acquisition was likely to be completed by November, with Bottles founding members Enrico Ferigolli and Vincent Viviers, key managers and staff moving across to the supermarket giant.
JOHANNESBURG, October 20 (ANA) – South African supermarket chain Pick n Pay said on Tuesday it had concluded an agreement to purchase on-demand, online grocery service Bottles.
In a statement, Pick n Pay said this would allow it to build on the success it has achieved in recent months in partnership with Bottles, launched in 2016 as South Africa’s first alcohol on-demand delivery app and already sub-Saharan Africa’s largest and most popular online grocery business.
After South Africa’s government banned the sale of alcohol in March under a lockdown aimed at containing the Covid-19 pandemic, Bottles re-purposed its app to start delivering on-demand grocery essentials to customers.
It has since achieved more than 700,000 downloads, with over 350,000 registered users. The service offers in excess of 7,000 products at store prices, with an average delivery time of 90 minutes.
On Tuesday, Pick n Pay said the acquisition was likely to be completed by November, with Bottles founding members Enrico Ferigolli and Vincent Viviers, key managers and staff then moving across to the supermarket giant.
“The past seven months have seen a surge in demand for online groceries in South Africa. Together with our franchise partners, we have responded by expanding the number of stores which deliver or offer click and collect services,” Pick n Pay chief executive officer Richard Brasher said.
Bottles’ grocery essentials offer had been hugely popular, building on the platform’s achievement as the best-rated app by customers in the sector, he said.
“We are therefore delighted to be acquiring Bottles. It will enable us to build on the tremendous momentum we have achieved by integrating the Bottles business into our existing online offer, and applying Bottles’s agility, innovation and marketing flair across our platform,” Brasher added.
Pick n Pay Online is the largest online grocery offer in sub-Saharan Africa, covering all major centres across South Africa with 800,000 registered users.
– African News Agency (ANA), Editing by Stella Mapenzauswa
