Pick n Pay is taking its online grocery operations up a gear, rolling out an AI-powered fulfilment platform across more than 720 stores after a pilot reduced average order-picking times by around 30%.
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The investment comes as online grocery sales accelerate, growing 35.4% in the 26 weeks ended 30 August 2026.
The rollout of OrderGrid's store operations and fulfilment platform marks the final stage of a two-year technology replatforming journey, strengthening the systems behind Pick n Pay asap! and its growing omnichannel business.
The technology introduces real-time inventory management, demand forecasting, order management and store execution tools. These are designed to help teams identify shelf gaps, reduce out-of-stocks and fulfil online orders more efficiently, particularly larger baskets.
Making the store work harder for online shoppers
The platform builds on Pick n Pay's existing use of computer vision to detect gaps on shelves and machine learning to optimise picking routes. Together, these tools give store teams better visibility of stock and orders, helping improve product availability and fulfilment efficiency.
For online grocery shoppers, the aim is straightforward: receive the products they ordered, when they expect them.
More changes inside the asap! app
The technology investment also supports a growing range of customer-facing features in the asap! app. These include Penny, described by Pick n Pay as South Africa's first conversational AI-powered grocery shopping assistant, which helps customers discover products, plan meals and build baskets using text, voice and images.
Other additions this year include a Clothing category, live shopping through the Inspire feature, and Smart Shopper PRO, a subscription offering additional savings, rewards and delivery benefits. Further developments are planned for later this year.
Building on online growth
Pick n Pay's omnichannel technology investment comes as the retailer looks to build on the momentum of its online business. Enrico Ferigolli, Retail Executive: Omnichannel at Pick n Pay, says strengthening the technology behind in-store fulfilment is helping the business improve picking times and support larger online orders.
Working with specialists such as OrderGrid also gives the retailer access to new capabilities as it responds to changing customer expectations.
OrderGrid co-founder Aidan Mittra says accurate stock information is important across both online and physical shopping, particularly as more consumers begin using AI assistants to shop.
