Irish startup Buymie is to begin offering a same-day grocery delivery service to Lidl customers in Cork.
The discounter started working with Buymie last year to roll out a rapid grocery delivery service across Dublin and commuter towns surrounding the Irish capital. The service allows shoppers to order frozen, chilled and ambient food lines from local Lidl stores via the Buymie smartphone app. The firm uses contracted pickers and couriers to fulfil the orders in as little as an hour.
Back in April, Buymie extended its partnership with Lidl in Ireland to a multi-year deal. It also raised €2.2m in extra finding from investors to scale up its operations amid growing demand for grocery deliveries during the coronavirus outbreak.
Following its success in Dublin, Buymie will this week start offering the delivery of Lidl groceries to 86,000 households across Cork city and its suburbs.
“We’re absolutely thrilled to be announcing our official launch into Cork with our retail partner Lidl Ireland,” said Buymie’s Chief Executive Devan Hughes.
“2020/21 will see a rapid expansion of the same-day delivery channel as consumers confront a new reality for the foreseeable future.”
Buymie also works with Tesco in Ireland, and it recently partnered with the Co-op in the UK to offer same-day deliveries across Bristol.
The latest expansion will mean Buymie is available to around two million people across 750,000 households in Ireland and the UK.
On the firm’s future plans, Hughes said the firm has identified 20 cities across Ireland and UK where the Buymie model would be suitable.
Meanwhile, Lidl Ireland’s regional director for Munster, Conor Nagle said: “Given that not everyone is in a position to visit their local Lidl at present we are delighted to extend the Buymie service to six stores in Cork city, ensuring thousands of shoppers have access to the incredible value that Lidl offers in a more accessible way.”
NAM Implications:
- Clearly a service add-on for Lidl that is scalable…
- ..in both Ireland and the UK.
- Similarly for Tesco.
- Time to factor it into your trade strategies?
