Waitrose has unveiled a multi-year partnership with Uber Eats, offering customers grocery deliveries in as little as 20 minutes.
The rapid delivery service will be rolled out to over 200 stores across the UK by the end of next month, following the supermarket reporting a 40% rise in on-demand grocery compared to last year.
“We want more and more people to enjoy the quality and taste of Waitrose products as and when they want it,” said James Bailey, Waitrose executive director.
“On-demand grocery shopping continues to grow in popularity with our customers and partnering with Uber Eats means we have even more flexibility to be there for them whenever they need us.”
With 60% of UK consumers now ordering groceries online, Waitrose is not the only UK supermarket to team up with rapid on-demand delivery services:-
Asda
During the pandemic, Asda expanded its one-hour Express Delivery service to 96 stores, with the full online grocery range of more than 30,000 products available for delivery.
The supermarket has also partnered with Deliveroo Hop, Just Eat and Uber Eats to offer “customers a speedier service” on a slightly smaller range of products from locations across the UK.
When expanding their Deliveroo collaboration in May this year, Simon Gregg, senior vice president of ecommerce at Asda, said the move “provides us with valuable insight into how we can look to leverage our stores to bolster our last mile delivery options for customers.”
Co-op
Co-op’s own delivery service offers groceries within two hours for households in eligible areas. But the convenience grocery has a range of partnerships in place to speed up delivery. As well as teaming up with Uber Eats, The Co-op Group is working to secure a third of the UK’s quick convenience sector through its partnership with Just Eat.
The collaboration between the Co-op and Just Eat looked to reach almost 1,000 stores this summer, following a successful trial introduced at the end of 2022.
But it is not just bike deliveries providing fast groceries for Co-op customers; a robotic delivery service is available in seven locations across England thanks to its work with Starship Technologies.
Iceland
Frozen food specialist has expanded its partnership with Uber Eats to cover an impressive 890 stores. Following a successful trial in 2019, which included 100 London stores, the partnership has gradually increased the number of locations across the country.
It also provides customers in Northern Ireland with this rapid delivery option. When it was introduced in August 2022, Ron Metcalfe, Iceland Ireland MD, said: “The Uber Eats rollout across the region reflects our belief that rapid grocery delivery for busy lives and households will continue to evolve and further cement our position within the sector.
“This high street to doorstep service enhances our offering and makes shopping hassle-free via the Uber Eats App.”
Morrisons
Morrisons ‘Ready to Eat’ and ‘The Best’ ranges are stocked in Deliveroo’s first physical store in London. The Deliveroo HOP grocery store on New Oxford Street is designed to offer customers a new way to shop – with in-store digital kiosks; ordering via the Deliveroo app for collection at the store; and for delivery within minutes to local residents, offices and other addresses via Deliveroo’s network of riders.
“The store will not only offer customers a wide choice of groceries from Morrisons but also a variety of ways to shop for them,” explained Hannah Horsfall, head of wholesale at Morrisons.
The supermarket also has a multi-year partnership with US-based rapid delivery platform Gopuff to enable delivery to customers within 15 to 20 minutes.
Sainsbury’s
Sainsbury’s own rapid delivery service, called Chop Chop, sees groceries arrive on a bike within an hour. There is a minimum spend of £15 with a £4.99 delivery fee, for limited range of essentials, and currently is only available in selected areas including Bath, Cardiff, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, and London.
The big four supermarket launched a Just Eat trial in February covering 175 stores.
“We are always on the lookout for more ways to make our customers’ lives easier and we look forward to working with Just Eat and to serving more shoppers with even more great value and quality Sainsbury’s products,” said Siobhan McMullan-Finnegan-Dehn, Sainsbury’s director of ecommerce.
Customers of Sainsbury’s can also order products through Deliveroo and Uber Eats.
Tesco
Tesco has expanded its rapid delivery service Whoosh to 1,000 Express stores across the UK. The supermarket giant first launched the online service in May 2021, with a target of having 800 stores offering the speedy delivery service by the end of February 2023.
However, it now serves 55% of UK households, with The Hammersmith Olympia Express store in London becoming the 1,000th Tesco Express to offer the service.
Customers have the chance to order food and snacks from a curated list of 2,500 to 4,500 essential products, with delivery set at £2.99 for orders that cost £15 or more, via Whoosh.
Of course it is not just supermarkets that offer rapid delivery, pharmacy Boots and beauty care favourite The Body Shop have both trialled partnerships with rapid delivery firms.
While there have been some questions regarding the longevity of the quick convenience deliver sector, such collaborations highlight a growing demand for speedy delivery. Uber Eat’s regional general manager, UKI & Northern Europe, Matthew Price told DeliveryX recently that “same-day is the new next-day” with consumers demanding it.
