Woolworths is the latest retailer to introduce an AI assistant after Checkers Sixty60 and Pick n Pay.
My Woolies Chef will be available from September 2026 to a select few. Picture: iStock
Premium retailer Woolworths has introduced an Artificial Intelligence (AI) assistant on its app, Woolies Dash. The retailer is the latest to introduce an AI assistant, after Checkers and Pick n Pay.
Checkers Sixty60 was the first to introduce an AI-powered shopping assistant, called Pixie, followed by Pick n Pay with Penny. Woolworths has named its AI-powered food assistant, My Woolies Chef, citing the tool will “simplify meal planning and enhance the customer shopping experience.”
The retailer said on Monday that My Woolies Chef will help customers answer one of the most common daily questions, “What’s for dinner tonight?”, while creating a more connected journey from meal inspiration to shopping.
Woolworths to give personalised recipe
The retailer added that the AI assistant will allow customers to use simple prompts to receive personalised recipe suggestions based on available ingredients, preferences, household needs or occasions.
“Once customers have chosen a recipe, they can move from inspiration to an automatically linked shopping basket on Woolies Dash.0
“My Woolies Chef brings together recipe inspiration, meal planning and digital shopping functionality in one connected experience. It is designed to reduce friction in the customer journey, helping users move more easily from deciding what to cook to shopping for what they need.”
Woolworths AI rollout phase
My Woolies Chef sounds no different from Pixie and Penny. The AI assistant offers a similar experience to those from Checkers Sixty60 and Pick n Pay, so for a retailer to stand out, it solely relies on two things: the product and price.
Woolworths said My Woolies Chef will be available to a small cohort of existing MyDifference loyalty programme members from September 2026 as part of an ongoing beta testing phase, with the intention of rolling it out more broadly in early 2027.
This is almost the same as Checkers Sixty60 with Pixie. The tool is only available to Xtra Savings Plus members as part of the phased rollout. This is Checkers’ rewards programme that customers have to pay R100 monthly for, and the benefits includes unlimited free deliveries from Sixty60 (R350 and more), 10% discount on one in-store shopping every month…and you get the extra hand, Pixie
Pick n Pay is the only one that has given all of its customers access to Penny, while Spar, Boxer and Shoprite are silent on developing their own AI assistants.
Purposeful innovation for real customer needs
“Unlike generic AI tools, My Woolies Chef is designed specifically for the South African food context, offering locally relevant recipes, seasonal ingredients, and direct integration with the Woolworths shopping ecosystem,” said Woolworths.
This is exactly what Penny, powered by Google’s Gemini AI from Pick n Pay, promises. Enrico Ferigolli, Retail Executive: Omnichannel at Pick n Pay, said customers can upload a picture of any meal and speak to Penny using any of the official languages.
Chan Pillay, CEO of Food at Woolworths, said, “For us, this is not technology for technology’s sake. It is about using innovation to make everyday decisions easier and helping customers plan, shop and cook with greater confidence.”
