Deliveroo is moving beyond its core restaurant food and grocery delivery market with a new service covering categories including pharmacy, DIY, homeware, toys, and petcare.
The group noted that the launch of ‘Deliveroo Shopping’ marked a major new step in its growth plans, offering consumers a much wider set of products with the same on-demand delivery convenience they’re used to at mealtimes.
Users of its app will be able to choose non-food items from high street and local shops as well as supermarkets, with products delivered by Deliveroo’s network of 80,000 riders in the UK. It plans to expand the product selection and retailers involved over the coming months.
Supermarkets already on Deliveroo, such as Waitrose, Co-op, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons, are extending their ranges to bolster the retail selection on Deliveroo, as is Boots, which is adding an extended Christmas gifting range. Consumers can already buy Lego at more than 100 grocery sites across the Deliveroo platform.
Tools and hardware retailer Screwfix has also agreed to partner exclusively with the service. It will join the ‘Deliveroo Shopping’ platform soon, with an initial range of up to 500 products covering categories such as plumbing, electrical, and decorating.
The company noted that consumers are already searching for non-food items on Deliveroo, with 71,000 monthly searches for pet products, a 76% increase in searches for home accessories in the past year, and 320,000 monthly searches for beauty and personal care.
Deliveroo is also rolling out new gifting functionality on its app, enabling users to send flowers and other items directly to friends and family.
Eric French, Deliveroo’s Chief Operating Officer, commented: “This is a super exciting innovation for consumers. Deliveroo is now catering for a wider set of consumer needs and occasions.
“Just as Deliveroo transformed the way people eat, we’re set to do the same to how people shop, bringing more of the local neighbourhood to people’s doors.”
NAM Implications:
- Deliveroo will optimise as a business model when it covers as many homes as possible.
- (Think Amazon dropping parcels to three or more households on each van-stop)
- Delivering anything that can legally be carried.
- That said, no category should come as a surprise.
- All depends on where it comes on the hit list…
