Checkers has opened its first “dark store” – which only serves on-demand delivery – as its online shopping continues to see massive growth. According to parent company Shoprite Holdings, the entire industry, and specifically Checkers Sixty60, is still enjoying “notably strong growth”. While the company hasn’t supplied detailed growth figures, simply saying that it is still growing significantly “despite its incredible growth trajectory built up over the almost three years since its launch”.
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“The continued success of this one hour, on-demand grocery delivery app has led Checkers to open its first dark store in Cape Town during the first quarter. This is one of many exciting initiatives undertaken by our ShopriteX tech hub team, who continue to innovate and monetise our digital and alternate revenue stream opportunities that increasingly form part of our group-wide ecosystem strategy,” Shoprite said.
As the moniker would imply, customers can’t walk into a “dark store” – it is there to serve on-demand customers with grocery deliveries only. It means better efficiency, as the delivered goods don’t need to come from a physical store with an onerous check-out process. The delivery personnel simply go to this online-only depot. It will also mean that the shopping behaviours for online customers can be separately catered for, as it could be quite different from what happens in stores. This becomes clear when some products in your online cart is not available, and you need to pick an alternative.
Pick n Pay has also seen a similar boom in online grocery deliveries. In the 18 weeks ended 3 July 2022, Pick n Pay’s total online sales – which include scheduled delivery, click and collect and its asap! on-demand online service – grew by 97 percent.
It is clear what the South African consumer wants – more options for convenient grocery shopping.
