Bottles App was launched in 2016 by Vincent Viviers and Enrico Ferigolli. This application offers users access to over 5000 products and promises to deliver straight to your door within 90 minutes. Their partnership with Pick n Pay began in 2018 to scale up their beverage delivery business and position themselves as the leading on-demand alcohol delivery service in the country.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced Bottles app to reposition their business due to the prohibition on the sale of alcohol in March. The team leveraged their existing relationship with Pick n’ Pay by pivoting the business to an on-demand grocery essentials app which offers same-day delivery. Since its expansion to groceries, the application has signed up 350 000 users, offers over 5000 grocery and liquor products at in-store pricing, and most importantly, delivers in an average of 90 minutes.

The pandemic forced SMEs to adapt or die during the lockdown but founders, Viviers and Ferigoli applied their entrepreneurial and innovative mindset to the problem at hand. Their proof of concept was small which used two stores, offering a limited basket of 150 items. The response from customers who registered on the app was so good that the team had to rapidly scale up and expand the grocery essential services across more than 90 Pick n’ Pay stores in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town and Bloemfontein. More products continue to be added every week based on customer demand.

With the growth of e-commerce during the pandemic, Bottles app is enjoying exponential growth while giving customers an efficient and safe way to stay home and buy their grocery essentials.

Mahlatse Tolamo is the Ecosystem Enabler at 22 On Sloane