South Africa’s leading on-demand grocery platform, Pick n Pay asap!, has officially unveiled “Penny” – the country’s first fully integrated AI-powered grocery shopping companion – marking a major leap from manual scrolling to intuitive, conversation-led basket building.
Available in the latest version of the Pick n Pay asap! app, the generative AI assistant eliminates the need for manual product searches.
Customers can now speak, type, or even share photos to build their grocery basket instantly. The feature is scheduled for a full public rollout commencing 6 July 2026.
The Shift from Search-and-Scroll to Conversational Shopping
This launch positions Pick n Pay as a pioneer in the local e-commerce space, leveraging advanced AI to rethink the user experience entirely.
Instead of navigating endless categories, Penny handles the heavy lifting through natural dialogue.
Enrico Ferigolli, Retail Executive: Omnichannel at Pick n Pay, emphasises that this innovation transcends standard app updates.
“On-demand delivery changed how people shop. AI is now changing how they order. We’re moving from search-and-scroll shopping to conversation-led shopping that makes buying groceries faster, smarter and far more intuitive.
“For years, the focus has been on faster delivery. The next disruption is removing the effort from shopping itself. Consumers no longer just want speed – they want shopping apps to think for them,” says Ferigolli.
Powered by Google’s Multimodal Gemini AI
Penny is built on Google’s advanced Gemini AI models, utilising multimodal capabilities that allow customers to interact however feels most natural – whether through voice notes (in any language), typed text, or uploaded images.
Kabelo Makwane, Country Director for Google South Africa, highlighted the broader impact of this integration:
“We are now in the era of AI assistants, where AI is moving beyond simply answering questions to helping people get things done,” says Makwane.
“The power of multimodal AI is that people don’t have to adapt to technology – the technology adapts to them. Whether someone speaks, types or shares a photo, AI understands their intent.
“When these capabilities are built into products people already know and trust, they solve real everyday problems in a simple, intuitive way,” says Makwane.
Key Features: How Penny Transforms the Weekly Shop
Designed around authentic South African shopping habits, Penny assists with everything from weekly bulk shops and quick top-ups to meal planning and entertainment.
Ferigolli notes that the assistant removes the friction of knowing exact product names.
“Customers no longer need to search through various categories or know exact product names; they can just ask for it, in their own words”, he says.
Using Penny, customers can:
-
Shop conversationally in multiple languages
-
Dictate their shopping list using voice notes
-
Upload photos of handwritten shopping lists or recipe ingredient lists
-
Snap products they want to reorder
-
Photograph ingredients already in their fridge and ask for meal ideas
-
Request recipes and instantly add all ingredients to their basket
-
Suggest ingredient substitutions on the fly
-
Plan meals, manage budgets, and get entertaining ideas
For repeat shoppers, Penny simplifies replenishment by allowing customers to reload their usual weekly basket or reorder a previous shop with just a single, simple request.
Smarter Personalisation via Smart Shopper Integration
Beyond just finding items, Penny intelligently recommends products based on individual preferences -including quantity, brand, and price. By integrating with the Smart Shopper loyalty programme, the AI personalises results based on past purchases and shopping habits, making each interaction more relevant than the last.
“By understanding what customers are cooking, buying and planning, Penny becomes more than a shopping app – it becomes a genuine shopping companion that makes grocery shopping dramatically faster and simpler,” says Ferigolli.
A Foundation for Future AI Innovation
The launch arrives during a period of significant technical momentum for Pick n Pay Online. The recent replatforming of the asap! infrastructure has set the stage for rapid, agile development.
“Last year we replatformed asap! across both the front and back end, significantly accelerating our speed of development. That gives us the ability to bring new AI-powered innovations to customers much faster, with more enhancements rolling out over the coming months.
“This is only the beginning of what AI can unlock for everyday grocery shopping, and Penny is the first step in that journey,” concludes Ferigolli.
About the rollout: The Penny AI assistant will be available to all Pick n Pay asap! app users starting 6 July 2026. The update is live in the latest app version, positioning South Africa at the forefront of AI-driven retail technology.
