Pick n Pay is in the midst of a turnaround after losing market share to competitors in recent years. In its 2023 financial year, it plunged into a loss - of a staggering R3.2-billion. Former CEO Sean Summers, who left the company in 2007, returned to the helm in September of that year to lead the turnaround effort.
Summers' early bets appear to be paying off, with the retailer's most recent update reporting Pick n Pay sales were up 3.6 year on year in its core South African supermarkets business for the 17 weeks to 29 June 2025. Turnaround efforts have included a partnership with First National Bank's eBucks rewards programme. eBucks was previously partnered with Checkers.
Sixty60 got a head-start during the Covid-19 lockdowns when consumers - stuck at home - took to e-commerce with vigour. Around the same time - in October 2020 - Pick n Pay acquired alcohol delivery app Bottles, which it would eventually use as the foundation for its own online platform, asap!.
Pick n Pay still has some way to go, though. Reports by both Pick n Pay and rival Shoprite last week show Sixty60 continuing to outpace its rival . But Pick n Pay is fighting back.
Enrico Ferigolli, who co-founded Bottles, now serves as head of online at Pick n Pay. Speaking to the TechCentral Show in an episode that will be published this week, Ferigolli said recent changes to Pick n Pay's customer-facing applications are only the tip of the iceberg in the retailer's strategic tech arsenal.