Deliveroo moves into retailing as it promises grocery deliveries in as little as 10 minutes from its own dark store, run in partnership with supemarket Morrisons.
Shoppers can buy from a range of up to 2,000 items from the Deliveroo Hop store. Deliveroo says Hop sits alongside its existing on-demand grocery service, which already delivers from more than 4,600 grocery stores operated by existing partners – from Waitrose to the Co-op. It promises a fast and accurate service and a wider range – with fewer substitutions needed – thanks to the use of its grocery management technology and network of more than 50,000 delivery riders to deliver from its own dark stores. Morrisons will supply its own brands as well as third-party brands, from wines and ready meals to fresh meat and fish.
Will Shu, chief executive and founder of Deliveroo, says: “Deliveroo Hop will enhance our on-demand grocery offering for both consumers and our grocery partners. We are pleased to launch the service with Morrisons, one of our largest partners.”
David Potts, chief executive at Morrisons says: “Morrisons has enjoyed a strong and growing partnership with Deliveroo since March 2020 which now covers more than 320 stores. The rapid delivery grocery sector is developing quickly and is highly valued by customers. The launch of Deliveroo Hop represents another key moment, enabling customers to choose from a wide selection of groceries from Morrisons and have them delivered by Deliveroo in as little as ten minutes.”
Surplus food from the scheme will be donated to The Felix Project, as part of Deliveroo’s Full Life campaign to deliver a million meals to families in need.
Commenting, Florence Wright, senior analyst at Edge by Ascential, says the new service means Deliveroo is now a retailer rather than purely a delivery intermediary – and one that starts out with six million customers. “This partnership shows how rapid delivery is becoming table stakes for grocery businesses in major markets even though this sector didn’t really exist at the start of the year,” she says. “Nine months later, this is a multibillion dollar industry that has already been the focus of takeover activity and strategic investments – London-based Dija was acquired by US firm GoPuff in the summer, while Carrefour has recently taken a minority stake in Cajoo.
“An important measure of sustainable success in this sector is scale and Deliveroo has that, compared to its smaller rivals. Deliveroo is already a heavyweight in the on-demand delivery market, and its proposition is further strengthened by its long-term partnership with Morrisons. It’s also important to note that Amazon own an 11.5% share in Deliveroo and are building a relationship with them giving prime members free Deliveroo Plus. It’s, therefore, no surprise that it’s partnered with Morrisons with its first foray into rapid delivery as it has a standing partnership with the supermarket where it sells Morrisons products on its site. The use of dark stores will also enable them to compete with even quicker timeframes.”
Morrisons is a Leading retailer in RXUK Top500 research.
