Pick n Pay, first sub-Saharan African retailer to migrate to AWS

Pick n Pay, a South African retailer, has moved its entire on-premises information technology (IT) infrastructure to Amazon Web Services (AWS). Pick n Pay collaborated with Lemongrass Consulting, an AWS Premier Consulting Partner, for the migration.

The retailer stated in a press statement that it will use the AWS Marketplace and AWS’s wide range of services, including storage, databases, analytics, and business intelligence, to automate Pick n Pay’s operations, deliver real-time insights, and identify and purchase AWS Partner Network (APN) offerings.

Pick n Pay can forecast demand, identify customer patterns and sentiment, and improve customers’ in-store and online shopping experience by analyzing data in the cloud. The retailer can use AWS to dynamically scale its infrastructure resources in response to business demand and peak retail seasons.

Pick n Pay claims that this elasticity will allow it to scale its AWS-powered online shopping services to serve thousands of South African customers during peak shopping seasons and holidays.

Chris Shortt, Pick n Pay’s chief information and technology officer, stated that leveraging AWS’s cloud services results in greater operational efficiency for the retailer.

Pick n Pay is the first African retailer to migrate its on-premises IT infrastructure to AWS completely. According to Eamonn O’Neill, chief technology officer at Lemongrass Consulting, the strategy could save the retailer between 45% and 75% in cost.