Johannesburg - While the Covid-19 pandemic could potentially ruin yet another festive season, Pick ‘n Pay are intent on spreading the festive spirit across South Africa.
These holidays, the retail giant’s drivers will suit up in full Santa Claus attire as they make their deliveries across the country this December.
And while they might not be travelling around in a magic sleigh and flying reindeer, the Pick n Pay asap! drivers have already lit up the faces of the young and old when they have been spotted on their delivery bikes.
“We hope our Santa asap! drivers will make many people smile – whether they order (from) a shop for delivery to their front door and are surprised by Santa, or if they see one of our drivers buzzing along the roads or at a traffic light on their way to their next delivery,” Andrew Mills, the marketing group executive at Pick n Pay explained.
Pick ‘n Pay’s Santa Claus delivery service started from December 1 and is set to continue around South Africa until Christmas eve.
But while the PnP asap! on-demand delivery service operates nationally, only our drivers in the surrounds of Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban are donning the red Santa uniforms.
“There are hundreds of Santa asap! drivers on the road so the more orders there are, the higher the chance of having Santa visit a few times,” Mills said.
He added that there is no extra fee for Pick ’n Pay’s Santa Claus delivery service.
“There is no extra charge for our Santa asap! drivers to deliver groceries and not every driver is wearing a suit as there are certain independent drivers providing this service for us,” Mills said.
During this time, whether South Africans from all walks of life have been “naughty or nice", a delivery from Santa Claus will reach them.
“Santa was already wearing our brand colours (red and white) so we asked him to do a few extra deliveries this year for us,” Mills joked.
Images of young and old being delighted by the sight of Pick ‘n Pay’s drivers donning full Santa Claus attire while taking to the streets of South Africa to make their deliveries or arriving at their homes are already spreading across social media platforms, with many applauding the retail outlet for contributing towards the South African festive cheer during a time when Covid-19 infection rates are causing widespread anxiety.
The grocery giant is even awarding five shoppers who make use of their Santa Claus delivery service the chance to win a share of R100 000 in Pick n Pay asap! vouchers, plus free delivery for a year.
Mills explained that the decision behind their Santa Claus delivery campaign was to spread the Christmas cheer, particularly as the nation is in the midst of the global health crisis which has already been raging on for almost two years now.
“It has been another tough year so we thought how can we put a smile on millions of South Africans’ faces this festive December and the answer was to use our network of on-demand delivery drivers who we know are making many people smile,” he said.
The Pick ‘n Pay marketing group executive also believes that the eruption of the novel coronavirus has dampened age-old Christmas traditions, and that the youngsters are missing out on experiencing memorable Christmas moments.
“During these times of social distancing, many children haven’t had the opportunity to go visit Santa in shopping malls as they used to.
“But now they can meet Santa at the click of a button on our app.”
In the spirit of giving, Mills believes that their Santa asap! drivers will give a new meaning to “Secret Santa”.
“The app delivers across South Africa and is the perfect way to send a Christmas gift or a bag of groceries to someone you know who might be struggling,” he said.
“The surprise will only be more special when Santa arrives to deliver the gift.”
The retailer’s Santa Claus delivery service is available to all shoppers who make use of their Pick n Pay asap! delivery app, which affords consumers the ability to get all their items from the store to be delivered to their doorsteps.
This includes groceries, clothing, alcoholic beverages as well as other household items.
Mills said that their drivers were delighted to join their Santa Claus campaign and to help contribute towards the festive cheer.
“All our branded bike asap! drivers were told about this initiative in being able to add more happiness to Christmas and all wanted to be part of this festive cheer; so donning the red uniform for the month received a unanimous ‘thumbs up’.”
The Pick n Pay asap! delivery app is one of many digital innovations by retail outlets, which have grown in popularity during the pandemic.
Others include Checker’s Sixty60, Woolworth’s Woollies Dash while other delivery services such as TakeAlot, Mr D Foods and UberEats have also become household delivery brands in South Africa which offers online shoppers ease and convenience.
These services have also helped curb the spread of Covid-19 as shoppers no longer have to go to often crowded supermarkets to buy essentials like groceries.
Mills explained that more customers are opting to shop online and that their on-demand delivery service has experienced significant growth since the onset of the pandemic.
“This is a yet another way we can deliver a joyous moment to customers, along with their groceries to their front door within an hour.”
To win your share of Pick ‘n Pay vouchers, snap a pic of a Pick n Pay asap! Santa out and about and share it with us using #asapSantaSnap to enter. Ts&Cs apply.