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Pick n Pay Debuts Penny, a Multimodal AI Assistant for the asap! App

The launch signals intensified competition over on‑demand grocery delivery as rivals roll out AI tools and expand fulfilment capacity.

Customers push trolleys as they shop at a Pick n Pay store at the Trade Route Mall, in Lenasia outside Johannesburg, South Africa, February 8, 2023. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko
Pick n Pay's AI assistant, Penny, will be available to customers from 6 July 2026. Picture: iStock

Overview

  • Pick n Pay introduced Penny to media on Thursday and said the Gemini‑powered assistant will be available to the public from July 6, letting customers use voice, text or photos to build orders.
  • Penny can identify ingredients from images, suggest recipes, plan meals, recommend substitutions and create baskets from handwritten lists or budget prompts.
  • The assistant personalises suggestions by using customers' Smart Shopper purchase history to match preferred brands, quantities and price ranges.
  • Pick n Pay says Penny is powered by Google's Gemini models to support multiple languages and multimodal inputs, a move that answers Shoprite/Checkers Sixty60’s Pixie and other rival innovations.
  • The rollout comes as Woolworths expands fulfilment capacity with a second Wynberg dark store and the sector pairs front‑end AI with back‑end logistics to increase speed, slot availability and order accuracy for fast delivery customers.