Pick n Pay has launched an own-brand cosmetics range of 100 products, all priced below R90, as it adds categories to its on-demand delivery service in a bid to win back shoppers.
The range, called Real Cosmetics, was announced on Thursday, 15 October, and is available in 100 Pick n Pay stores and on the retailer’s asap! platform, which promises delivery in under an hour. It covers face, eye, lip and nail products, including concealer, BB cream, lipstick, lip plumper, eyeshadow, eyeliner, mascara, nail polish and highlighter. The most expensive item sells for R89.99.
Head of product marketing Landre Venter said the range lets customers add make-up to their grocery shop and try new products without spending much. Pick n Pay developed the assortment with a local cosmetics supplier, selecting the products, colours and shades itself, which Venter said allows it to respond quickly to local demand and current trends.
Pick n Pay Group Results, FY2026 (52 Weeks to 1 March 2026)
| Measure | Result |
|---|---|
| Group turnover | R120.3bn (+3.4%) |
| Boxer turnover growth | +12.3% |
| Pick n Pay segment turnover | About R74bn (-1.6%) |
| Company-owned supermarket like-for-like sales | +3.9% |
| Online sales growth | +32.7% (asap! +37.6%) |
| Pick n Pay segment trading loss | About R1bn |
The launch is part of a wider effort to make asap! central to Pick n Pay’s turnaround. The core supermarket business remains loss-making. In the year to 1 March 2026, the group grew turnover 3.4% to R120.3 billion, but almost all the growth came from discount chain Boxer, which expanded sales by 12.3%. Pick n Pay’s own segment saw turnover fall 1.6% as it closed underperforming stores, and its trading loss widened to about R1 billion.
Online remains the fastest-growing part of the business. Online sales rose 32.7% in the 2026 financial year, with asap! up 37.6%. In the 20 weeks to 19 July 2026, online turnover grew a further 37.5%, driven by asap! and Pick n Pay’s grocery listing on the Mr D app. Over the same period, like-for-like sales in its South African supermarkets grew 1.9%, and the group described trading conditions as highly constrained, citing weak economic growth, elevated fuel prices and subdued food inflation.
The cosmetics move puts Pick n Pay into closer competition with health and beauty chains Clicks and Dis-Chem, as well as Shoprite’s Checkers Sixty60, which leads South Africa’s on-demand grocery market. Private-label ranges typically carry higher margins than branded goods, and low price points are aimed at cash-strapped shoppers trading down.
The retailer’s recovery plan, led by chief executive Sean Summers, has included closing or converting loss-making stores, a R4.7 billion placement of Boxer shares completed in May 2026 that strengthened the balance sheet, and a Section 189A restructuring process started in May. Pick n Pay has said reaching its break-even target for the Pick n Pay segment depends on delivering the full range of turnaround measures, including concluding that process.
Summers said in May that the business was fundamentally stronger than two and a half years earlier, despite the wider loss, and the group expects Pick n Pay to return to growth in the 2027 financial year now that store closures are largely complete.