Shoppers will be able to get groceries from Waitrose delivered in as little as 10 minutes as the grocer trials Deliveroo’s Hop service. The partnership enables Waitrose to promise a speed of delivery that it says is in line with the fastest currently available delivery time in the rapid food delivery market.
Shoppers will then be able to order more than 1,000 Waitrose lines via the Deliveroo app for delivery in as little as 10 minutes, between 8am and midnight. The trial starts later this month when the first ‘Hop’ delivery-only shop, operated in partnership with Waitrose, opens in Bermondsey.
Ready meals will be among the items available for fast delivery, as well as free-from, vegan ranges, fruit, vegetables, store cupboard essentials,wine, champagne, flowers and seasonal food.
James Bailey, executive director, Waitrose, says: “It’s important that we continue to evolve along with shopping behaviour to give our customers more options for how and when they want to shop with us. Deliveroo has given us more flexibility in meeting customers’ needs and expanding our successful partnership to trial ’Hop’ gives us an exciting opportunity to introduce more new customers to the excellent food and drink we offer.”
Deliveroo says the speed of service is enabled by its grocery management technology that provides inventory control in real time and eliminates the need to substitute items, in combinations with its existing network of more than 50,000 riders and logistics technology that comes up with the fastest delivery routes.
Carlo Mocci, chief business officer UK&I, at Deliveroo, says: “We are delighted to announce that Waitrose will trial Deliveroo Hop, our new rapid grocery service. Deliveroo Hop complements our existing on-demand grocery service and will build on our successful partnership with Waitrose, improving the consumer experience and bringing a wide range of groceries and household products to consumers’ doors in as little as 10 minutes.”
Surplus food from the Hop store will be donated to The Felix Project, a Deliveroo campaign to deliver a million meals to families in need.
The context
The news comes after a period in which competition to offer the fastest delivery times has stepped up – both from fast delivery services and major grocers.
In October, Tesco started to trial its own 10 minute deliveries, from microsites within Tesco stores, in partnership with Gorillas. It also offers one hour delivery, via its Whoosh delivery service from more than 100 stores. At the time, Jason Tarry, Tesco chief executive for the UK & ROI, said: “The idea that we can reach our customers in just ten minutes is really exciting. We are committed to being easily the most convenient choice for our customers, enabling them to shop whenever and however they want.”
Former Waitrose online partner Ocado said this week that it would open its second Ocado Zoom hub in the second quarter of its current financial year. The Zoom service currently promises delivery within an hour from a single hub in Acton, although from a wider range of more than 10,000 items.
And in January, data from Cardlytics suggested that the rise of rapid delivery apps was eating into grocery market share. It found that spending on rapid grocery delivery apps such as Getir, Zapp and Weezy grew by 123% in the last five months of 2021, compared to a 22% decrease for traditional supermarkets
