It seems physical shopping is slowly becoming a thing of the past as retailers expand their on-demand online shopping options.

This week, Pick n Pay expanded their online-delivery offering by getting Mr D to pick up and pay for your groceries.

The pilot, PnP Groceries in the Mr D app, has rolled out in parts of Cape Town and Johannesburg.

So if you live in those parts of Cape Town and Johannesburg, check your Mr D app. You might have the option to purchase groceries as well as tonight’s supper. Unfortunately, the press release didn’t specify which parts are covered but it did say the retailer plans to “rapidly expand to 300 stores nationwide by December 2022”.

The on-demand service is nothing new for Pick n Pay. The retailer offers a similar service with their Asap! delivery service. That continues to compete with Checkers’ Sixty60, Woolworths’ Woolies Dash, and now Mr D.

Your delivery is on the way

Pick n Pay and Mr D will continue with what seems to have become the standard delivery period, an hour. Woolworths and Checkers also offer to deliver your groceries in one hour or less. However, Pick n Pay says the food and grocery products available on the online platform will be sold “at the same price as in-store”.

The alignment between online and in-store prices could give Pick n Pay an edge. Depending on whether you buy the product online or in-store, some retailers in SA charge a slightly higher price on online products.

But there’s a catch…Mr D will charge you R35 for the delivery. Considering SA’s high fuel prices, can we blame them? They’re certainly not the only guilty party.

Are you a smart shopper?

And yes, customers will also be able to earn Smart Shopper points from Pick n Pay and eBucks when shopping on the Mr D app.

Executive Co-Head of Omnichannel at Pick n Pay, Vincent Viviers, says there is potential for further growth.

“By working alongside the Takealot Group and Mr D, we will give customers the best and most reliable on-demand offer in South Africa,” says Viviers.

The retailer says the new offer is “the result of the commercial services agreement signed by the Takealot Group and Pick n Pay earlier this year, a first of its kind in South Africa”.