A South African retail firm has finalized an agreement to acquire Bottles, an on-demand delivery company that operates within the country.
In March, the South African government placed a ban on the sales of alcohol within its walls. Following this restriction, Bottles, which is well known for the sales of alcohol and liquor had to diversify.
Withing four days, the startup remodelled its mobile application to feature on-demand delivery of grocery essentials to its customers.
Since Bottles started the delivery business, its app has recorded over 700,000 downloads, and the company has registered over 350,000 active users of the delivery service.
Before the acquisition, Bottles has been a partner to Pick n Pay since 2018. According to reports, the purchase is expected to be completed by November. However, the co-founders, managers, and key members of staff will move to work with Pick n Pay.
‘’There has been a surge in grocery demand in South Africa in the past seven months. With our franchise partners, we have been able to satisfy these demands by increasing the number of stores that offer the click and collect service.’’
‘’Our sales growth has increased, and we have experienced a 200% increase in active customers,’’ says Richard Brasher, CEO of Pick n Pay.
‘’The partnership with bottles enabled us to introduce an on-demand grocery delivery service a few days after the nationwide lockdown began.’’
‘’Our goal is to have a business that is accessible to customers anytime, anywhere, and from any place. We already have two online depots, a home-delivery system, and a click and collect network that consists of over 150 stores.’’ Brasher added.
‘’Collaborating with Bottles will give us another edge, and it will enable us to offer improved services and more flexibility to our customers,’’ Brasher concluded.