Pick n Pay asap! has unveiled “Penny,” the country’s first fully integrated AI-powered grocery shopping companion, available in the latest version of the Pick n Pay asap! app. The generative AI assistant eliminates manual product searches, allowing customers to speak, type, or share photos to build their grocery basket instantly. The feature is scheduled for a full public rollout commencing 6 July 2026. Enrico Ferigolli, Retail Executive: Omnichannel at Pick n Pay, stated that the innovation moves from “search-and-scroll shopping to conversation-led shopping.” Penny is built on Google’s advanced Gemini AI models, utilizing multimodal capabilities for voice notes in any language, typed text, or uploaded images. Kabelo Makwane, Country Director for Google South Africa, noted that AI is moving beyond answering questions to helping people get things done. Key features include shopping conversationally in multiple languages, dictating shopping lists using voice notes, uploading photos of handwritten shopping lists or recipe ingredient lists, and snapping products to reorder.