The Co-op is introducing ‘walking deliveries’, with a focus on smaller towns and rural villages that are often avoided by rapid grocery delivery providers that usually focus on densely populated urban areas.
Expected to operate from 200 sites this year, the new Co-op service will see staff deliver online orders to homes and workplaces situated within a 15-minute walk of its stores.
The initiative follows successful trials in Cornwall and is aimed at people needing top-up or forgotten items, treats and evening meals.
Orders made via the Co-op’s online store will be loaded onto a specially designed trolley and wheeled to the customer’s door. Deliveries are typically made within two hours of the order being received.
The move is part of the society’s plans to grow its online operation by a further 50% to £300m by the end of this year. Its online delivery service is now available from over 2,000 of its stores around the country.
This week, the Co-op announced that it was working with Starship Technologies to introduce its home delivery robots to the streets of Cambridge for the first time. The retailer was the first supermarket in the UK to partner with Starship and robot deliveries are now a familiar sight in Milton Keynes and Northampton.
And earlier this month, the retailer began trialling a dedicated external service hatch for click & collect grocery orders at a store in Brighton to make the service quicker and more convenient for time-pressed shoppers.
“Making shopping quick, easy and convenient for our members and customers is at the very heart of our approach, our aim is to be the most convenient home delivery service, and we continue to innovate to meet the needs of consumers, said Chris Conway, Co-op’s e-commerce director.
“Co-op stores across the country are well placed to serve shoppers locally, and a key part of our strategy is to develop our e-commerce offer, using the competitive advantage of our store footprint to provide fast home deliveries, click & collect and added services.”
Meanwhile, Sainsbury’s has announced that a further 65 of its stores are now available on the Deliveroo app, offering shoppers over 1,500 grocery products on demand.
The new locations include Winchester, Marlow, Barking, Loughborough, Watford and Lancaster, offering delivery in as little as 20 minutes.
The new stores build on Sainsbury’s and Deliveroo’s existing partnership, first announced in 2020, and brings the total number of Sainsbury’s stores available on the platform to 336.
“With more and more shoppers looking for convenient and affordable food and grocery products from Sainsbury’s delivered to their doors, we’re pleased to be expanding our partnership with Deliveroo to even more locations, helping to make it as quick and easy as possible for our customers to shop with us,” said Matthew Roberts, Director of Channel Strategy at Sainsbury’s.
Deliveroo UK&I Chief Business Officer Carlo Mocci added: “As people continue to change the way they shop, including on-demand grocery delivery as part of their regular shop, we’re pleased to be bringing this choice to even more households across the UK.”
NAM Implication:
- Time for someone to cost out fulfilment.
