South Africa: Delivery Startup Bottles Acquired by Retailer Pick n Pay

Since then, the app has gotten more than 700,000 downloads, with over 350,000 registered users. The service offers over 7,000 products at store prices, with an average delivery time of 90 minutes.

2018 saw the first partnership Bottles and Pick n Pay which led up to the acquisition.  The deal is expected to be concluded in November, with Bottles founding members Enrico Ferigolli and Vincent Viviers, and key managers and staff, moving over to Pick n Pay.

The move will allow the retailer to expand on the momentum it has achieved in recent months in partnership with Bottles, and further improve its online grocery business.

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Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Richard Brasher spoke on Pick n Pay’s expansion via the acquisition of Bottles, he said,

“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. Our sales growth has more than doubled, and we have seen a 200 per cent increase in active customers,”

“In partnership with Bottles, we were able to introduce an on-demand grocery delivery service less than a week after the start of the lockdown. The Grocery Essentials offer has been hugely popular with customers, building on Bottles’ achievement as the best-rated app by customers in the sector.”

He went on to affirm that Pick n Pay was delighted to acquire 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’ agility, innovation and marketing flair across our platform,” Brasher said.

“Our aim is to have a business which customers can access anytime, anywhere and from any place. We already have two large online depots, and a home-delivery and click-and-collect network comprising over 150 stores. Bringing Bottles into Pick n Pay will give us another edge, and enable us to offer more services and more flexibility to customers in this rapidly growing area.”