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How Pick n Pay's Customer Insights team heard from more than 1,300 hypermarket shoppers and non-shoppers on WhatsApp, and took the findings straight into its marketing strategy.
How Pick n Pay's Customer Insights team heard from more than 1,300 hypermarket shoppers and non-shoppers on WhatsApp, and took the findings straight into its marketing strategy.
In short
Pick n Pay's Customer Insights team used Yazi to run 1,329 AI interviews on WhatsApp with hypermarket shoppers and non-shoppers in South Africa, between November and December 2025. 93% of people who started the interview finished it, and the Hypers marketing lead used the findings in his strategy session at the end of February 2026.
Pick n Pay's Customer Insights team runs research on shoppers, store formats and brands for the wider business. In late 2025 it came back to Yazi, after an earlier project together, to help the Hypermarkets division understand its customer value proposition: why shoppers choose Pick n Pay Hypers, and why others shop elsewhere.
The study had to give stakeholders the sample they look for: in Customer Insights Manager Leilah Pandit's words, a good couple of hundred people, and a couple of thousand is even better. And it had to reach people who don't shop at Pick n Pay Hypers as well as those who do.
Reaching people who shop elsewhere is harder than surveying loyal customers.
Senior stakeholders trust findings from hundreds or thousands of people, not a few focus groups.
A tick-box survey shows where people shop. The team needed to hear why.
The findings had to be clear enough for the Hypers marketing lead to act on.
Yazi ran the study as an AI interview on WhatsApp, alongside a short profile survey. Participants answered at their own pace, and the AI Interviewer followed up on each answer to get to the reason behind it: what draws people to a hypermarket, what brings them back, and what sends them elsewhere.
Every participant got a follow-up question, not just the ones a researcher had time to call.
Illustrative screen showing how the conversation worked. Not a real participant.
The sample cleared the stakeholder bar
Completed AI interviews, against what Pick n Pay's stakeholders look for
Completion
People who started the AI interview and finished it
From brief to strategy
About four months
The Hypers marketing lead used the findings in his strategy session at the end of February 2026. The study reinforced the operational strategy already in planning, highlighted opportunities for the year ahead, and surfaced a competitor trend that wasn't on the team's radar, which is now part of the Hypers strategy.
“Our stakeholders always want a good sample, a couple of hundred, a couple of thousand is even better, and I'm extremely happy with that.”
“It reinforced the operational strategy and highlighted a few opportunities for what we need to do going forward, which was extremely valuable to him.”
| Typical approach | Yazi on WhatsApp | |
|---|---|---|
| Sample | Focus groups or a few hundred survey completes | 1,329 completed AI interviews |
| Depth | Depth with small groups, or tick-boxes at scale | A follow-up question for every participant |
| Reach | Mostly existing customers | Shoppers and non-shoppers in one study |
| Participant effort | Online links or scheduled calls | Replies on WhatsApp, by text or voice |
| Outputs | Data tables | Themes, verbatims and numbers in one report |
A marketing strategy for Hypers backed by the voices of more than 1,300 people, and a competitor trend spotted early enough to act on.
People shared what they want from a big shop in a few minutes on WhatsApp, in their own words, without a phone call or a long online form.
Overall it was a very good piece of work. He used it in his strategy session at the end of February, so from a marketing standpoint he has a clear direction on what he needs to do, and it's backed up by the voice of the customer.
Retail strategy teams usually choose between a large survey and a handful of focus groups. Pick n Pay's Hypers study had both: a sample big enough for its stakeholders, and a conversation with every participant about why they shop where they do.
Pick n Pay's Customer Insights team ran an AI interview on WhatsApp with hypermarket shoppers and with people who shop elsewhere. Yazi's AI Interviewer followed up on each answer to find the reasons behind where people do their main shop.
1,435 people started the AI interview and 1,329 completed it, a 93% completion rate, between November and December 2025.
The Hypers marketing lead used them in his strategy session at the end of February 2026. The study reinforced the operational strategy already in planning, highlighted opportunities for the year ahead and surfaced a competitor trend that is now part of the Hypers strategy.
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