Aldi is working with Deliveroo in order to deliver online grocery orders to customers’ homes. The supermarket is offering delivery in as little as 30 minutes from its Daleside Road, Nottingham shop from today and plans to extend the trial to seven more shops in the East Midlands in June.
During the trial, shoppers will be able to order through the Deliveroo app from a range of more than 150 Aldi products. At first, the supermarket will offer essential items such as bread, milk and fresh produce. These will be picked by Aldi staff in the store before being delivered by Deliveroo’s cycle and motorbike riders in as little as 30 minutes.
The service has been introduced to give customers, including those who are self-isolating as a result of Covid-19, the option of buying Aldi groceries on-demand. If the service is successful, delivery could roll out to more Aldi stores by the end of 2020.
Giles Hurley, chief executive of Aldi UK & Ireland, said: “We hope the new trial with Deliveroo will provide more customers with access to great quality, affordable food at Aldi. This is a new and exciting venture for Aldi and we will be constantly reviewing how we can best serve our customers and continue to provide them with the high quality products they are used to in store.”
Ajay Lakhwani, vice president of new business at Deliveroo, said: “At Deliveroo, we are doing everything we can to make sure that people get the food they need and want during this unprecedented time. We are pleased to partner with Aldi and deliver even more choice to our customers as they continue to keep safe at home.”
It follows Aldi’s recent move to deliver food parcels ordered online to self-isolating and vulnerable customers. These contain 22 products including tinned soup, rice and pasta.
Aldi is the UK’s fifth biggest supermarket. Up till now it has sold only through its 875 shops in the UK, and has been late to selling online. Its partnership with Deliveroo represents a relatively low-investment approach to digital selling, although Deliveroo’s cycle-based service will limit how large deliveries can be. Perhaps it prove a useful way to test the level of demand for online delivery from Aldi, and whether deliveries can be made profitably.
Commenting on the news, Paul Kirkland, director of retail and hospitality at Fujitsu UK & Ireland, said: “Consumer footfall has gradually increased since lockdown measures were relaxed, so it’s crucial that retailers maintain social distancing measures in-store to avoid any overcrowding. As one of the UK’s leading grocers, Aldi’s trial of a delivery model with Deliveroo allows the discount grocery chain to better compete against the omnichannel offerings of its rivals, while still continuing to prioritise the health and safety of its customers and staff.
He added: “This service, if successful, will give Aldi a distinct advantage over the competition. After all, it won’t need to develop and build its own delivery network as some retailers have been forced to do but, instead, leverage Deliveroo’s existing infrastructure. With consumers looking for alternatives to delivery services, Aldi’s combination of in-store pick-up and local delivery drivers may well be a recipe for success.”
Image courtesy of Aldi
