New research from TWC suggests that half of consumers find the idea of delivery of groceries in half an hour – or less – appealing. Interest was highest amongst those living in London and younger consumers.
The TWC Trends research was conducted in June and showed that 51% of consumers found the idea of rapid grocery delivery appealing, rising to 69% of those living in London. This over-index coincides with the greater presence of the quick commerce tech start-ups such as Gorillas, Getir, GoPuff and Zapp, but also relates to the demographic make-up of the capital. For example, London has the highest proportion of people working, who are more likely to need rapid delivery solutions.
Awareness of the individual operators was highest for Getir and Gorillas at 17% (total GB). Within London, Gorillas was best known (46% awareness), followed by Getir at 41%.
The primary reasons consumers cited for using rapid delivery firms were that the shops are too far away (42% agreement); the shops are closed (35%); not having to wait long for delivery (35%); and bad weather preventing me from leaving the house (28%).
Consumers reported typical spends of over £20 on each occasion, with over half exceeding this level of spend. This is over double the typical instore convenience basket and reflects the willingness to pay a premium for the convenience of delivery as well as the premium selection of goods on offer via some of the apps, including fine wines and electronics.
“We are seeing really high levels of consumer interest in rapid delivery of grocery, and there is strong evidence that these services attract a different consumer to traditional convenience stores, as well as driving bigger baskets,” said Sarah Coleman, Communications Director at TWC, who presented findings from the research at the FWD conference at the end of last month (download slides).
“That said, these services boomed during the pandemic when demand was incredibly high, with many people isolating and lots of shops and services unable to open. Now the world is opening up again, plus the macro-economic climate is challenging, which means investors in rapid delivery and looking for sustainable, long-term business models, and consequently, we are seeing consolidation and scaling back of some operations.”
