Woolworths · NowNow · Food on demand

Food on demand, before the market arrived.

NowNow was Woolworths' move into food-on-demand and click-and-collect - in-store ordering, collection and delivery from day one, launched before food delivery apps reached the South African mainstream.

Two surfaces, one six-month clock - launched across multiple stores.

Two phones showing the NowNow app: a burger item screen with its price and allergens, and the lunch menu of bowls, salads, burgers and wraps.

Client: Woolworths
Product: NowNow
Sector: Retail · food on demand
Role: Ordering app + POS, build
Timeline: 6 months to multi-store launch
Platforms: iOS · Android · custom POS
Expertise: Full Stack Development

The need

Premium food, on demand, in a market that didn't exist yet.

Woolworths envisioned NowNow as a fresh, fast food experience - a strategic move into food-on-demand and click-and-collect at a time when ordering dinner from your phone was still a novelty in South Africa. No mainstream delivery apps, no local playbook - just a brand famous for quality, betting that convenience was about to become the expectation.

The platform had to support in-store ordering, collection and delivery from day one, run reliably at real speed in real stores, and do it all without overhauling the systems Woolworths already ran.

One platform, from day one

Every fulfilment mode live at launch - not phased in later

Order in store

Skip the counter queue - browse and order from the phone while standing in the store, ready when you are.

Click and collect

Order ahead, walk in, walk out - food ready at the counter the moment the customer arrives.

Delivery

Premium food brought to the door, before delivery apps made that an everyday expectation.

What we delivered

Two surfaces, synced to the second.

Both halves of it. On the customer side, a fast, intuitive ordering app across iOS and Android - browse the menu, place an order, collect in store or have it delivered. Behind the counter, a custom POS that received those orders in real time and ran the handoff, cutting wait times and easing prep, packing and collection. WiGroup supplied the integrations and loyalty through their mCommerce platform; Woolworths brought the brand, the product database and payments. Our job was to take those moving parts and turn them into one reliable, responsive system, at speed, across multiple stores.

Native ordering app on iOS and Android
Browse, order, collect or deliver - with basket reordering
Custom POS built for front-of-house staff
App and POS synced in real time
WiGroup mCommerce for integrations and loyalty
Woolworths brand, product database and payments
An independent layer - nothing overhauled

The NowNow point-of-sale on a tablet, showing a single collection order broken down into its base, toppings, protein and dressing.

NowNow app

iOS + Android - browse, order, reorder

Real-time sync

Front-of-house POS

Custom, infrastructure-agnostic, staff-first

WiGroup mCommerce

Integrations and loyalty, alongside - not rebuilt

All of it slotted into the systems Woolworths already ran.

The NowNow orders dashboard, with tickets moving across three columns: pending, queue and pack. Delivery orders carry a D marker.

How we shipped it

Six months, multiple stores, no shortcuts.

A first-mover launch earns nothing if it arrives late or beneath the brand. The build ran on retail's clock and Woolworths' standards - premium at pace, in production, in real stores.

A six-month clock

From build to multi-store launch on one timeline - first-mover advantage only counts if you actually move first.

Real stores, real speed

Built for front-of-house pace and lunchtime queues, not lab demos - and to scale alongside a growing number of stores rather than be rebuilt for each one.

Nothing overhauled

The POS was an independent layer sitting on top of what Woolworths already ran, syncing to the app in real time. New capability, no overhaul underneath it.

Premium, end to end

A brand-conscious partner deserves an experience worthy of the W - considered, fast and polished at every touchpoint.

By the numbers

The launch, in numbers.

0Months, from build to multi-store launch

0Fulfilment modes live from day one

0Surfaces - app and POS, synced in real time

NowNow launched across multiple stores on a platform built for the demands of high-volume, fast-turnover food service - and the technology remains in use, supporting a concept that still runs as part of Woolworths' innovation in retail and food.

The word from the team

“Every market has a moment when convenience stops being a luxury and becomes the expectation. Woolworths saw South Africa's coming before the delivery apps did - and had the nerve to build for it. Our job was to make sure that when the market arrived, the experience was already premium, already fast, and already in stores.”