News and Trends

Namnews, 11th May 2023 Co-op’s partnership with Just Eat is set to reach the 1,000-store milestone by the end of this month, with the convenience retailer stating its aim to bag 30% of the rapid delivery grocery market. Co-op estimates that more than 80% of the UK population will have access to Co-op groceries online by the end of this year, through its own online shop and with delivery partners. Last year, the society saw its online revenues grow by 24%, with it using the strategic advantage of its stores located in local communities to grow its presence in the channel. Over the last six months, the retailer has also expanded its use of autonomous grocery deliveries, with its self-driving robots now operating in areas such as Bedford, Cambridge, Milton Keynes, Northampton, Leeds and Greater Manchester. Chris Conway, E-commerce Director at Co-op, said: “Co-op is combining its physical and digital routes to market stores to further expand and grow its online reach. With our stores locat...

Namnews,  2nd May 2023 Asda has announced plans to launch its first Deliveroo HOP site and roll out its partnership with the rapid delivery specialist to a further 100 sites across the UK. The Deliveroo HOP grocery store concept was first launched in 2021 to offer a speedier service and better product availability. Both Morrisons and Waitrose have partnered with Deliveroo on the roll-out of the delivery-only sites in London. The HOP service is now launching at Asda’s new ‘Express’ convenience store in Tottenham Hale, which opened last December. It will see a dedicated picking space in the back of the store as well as a team of Asda staff to prepare the orders. This model of HOP sees partners own and manage sites while integrating Deliveroo’s technology and leveraging its logistics network. Over 1,300 Asda products will be available through the service. Simon Gregg, Senior Vice President of e-Commerce at Asda, said: “We always want to create more opportunities for our customers to c...

 Namnews,  24th March 2023 Tesco has exceeded its target for the rollout of its rapid delivery service, Whoosh. In response to a raft of delivery firms starting up during the pandemic, Tesco launched Whoosh in May 2021. The online service is now available from 1,000 Tesco Express stores, ahead of a target of 800 by the end of February 2023. The group has recently been heavily promoting Whoosh, which offers a selection of 2,500 to 4,500 products, delivered in as little as 30 minutes for a fee of £2.99 on orders over £15. Greg Bertrand, Head of Whoosh, said: “Our Whoosh service is rolling out at a rapid pace, opening in two Express stores a day on average this year. We’ve beaten our own target and we are seeing growing evidence that customers love the quality, speed and convenience of the service. “We are getting faster, and our availability is at a consistently high level. Whether it is a missing ingredient as you start to prepare a meal or ordering a Finest meal deal to eat th...

 Namnews,  30th November 2022 Co-op is bringing its autonomous grocery delivery robots to the streets of Leeds in Yorkshire. The service will be available to 20,000 residents initially within the Adel and Tinshill area of the city, with groceries picked in local Co-op stores on Spen Lane (Tinshill) and Otley Road (Adel). Orders are made through the Starship food delivery app, with customers able to choose from a range of grocery items, schedule their delivery, then drop a pin where they want their delivery to be sent. Customers can order their delivery to arrive in under an hour and watch the Starship robot travel in real-time via an interactive map. Customers receive an alert when the robot arrives, and can meet and unlock it through the app. The expansion in the North of England for the first time follows the Co-op’s introduction of autonomous deliveries in Milton Keynes, Bedford, Northampton, Cambourne, and most recently Cambridge. Since the robots were first introduced int...

Namnews, 24th November 2022 Ocado has today expanded its rapid grocery delivery service Zoom outside of London, despite signs that the channel is experiencing weaker demand. The online grocer’s fourth Zoom site is based in Hunslet, Leeds. The purpose-built, automated warehouse contains 70 robots that pick and pack the products, while humans assemble the final orders ahead of delivery by electric vehicles, including e-trikes and e-mopeds. Ocado is predicting up to 10,000 orders per week from Leeds residents. “Ocado is famed for its world-leading technology, and we’re delighted to be bringing our rapid grocery app to the city of Leeds as our service expands outside of London,” said Zoom by Ocado Director, George Dean. The move comes amid reports that other rapid delivery firms are shedding riders and closing warehouses across the UK as the bubble bursts for ultra-quick grocery drop-off services. Some of the biggest names in the on-demand grocery sector, which persuaded investors during t...

The   quick commerce operator   Getir have announced today that it will be starting to stock Co-op products. The trial sees Getir increase its product range with Co-op products with around 300 lines across ambient and fresh categories. Getir state that this will mean it can serve its customers better with quick meals, fresh meats, fruits, and veg, further supporting its growth in the UK. The trial will begin on the 26th October in several London areas (Battersea, Earls Court, Balham, Tottenham and Bethnal Green). However, Getir will be expanding the trial to additional locations in the coming months. The move from Getir follows similar steps taken by  Tesco partnering with Gorrilas  and Morrisons with Gopuff. Growing customer demand for choice The change has been mainly driven by a response to growing consumer demand for more choice.  In IGD’s recent exclusive quick commerce study  we highlighted that range was the main driver when shoppers choose a quick c...

Namnews, 2nd August 2022 Co-op and Deliveroo have announced that they have extended their partnership for a further three years, with plans for the rapid grocery delivery service to be available from up to 1,400 of the convenience retailer’s stores by the end of the year. Co-op and Deliveroo first joined forces in 2017, and following the contract renewal, they plan to have 110 additional Co-op stores available on the Deliveroo platform this year. Deliveroo customers can choose from around 2,300 everyday items from the Co-op range. Chris Conway, E-Commerce Director at the Co-op, said: “We are delighted to be able to expand our partnership with Deliveroo – as a convenience retailer, the ability to come into stores will always be important to customers, but we also know that shoppers want flexible and convenient options online, and so we are focused on providing what our customers want and need, however and wherever they choose to shop with us.” Carlo Mocci, Chief Business Officer UK&...

rpbi-openings.co.uk, 20 May 2022 Delivery sales at managed restaurant and pub groups covered by the CGA & Slerp Hospitality at Home Tracker in April were 357% higher than the pre-COVID levels of April 201. It continues the stellar performance of the delivery sector since the start of the pandemic. Takeaway and click-and-collect sales have also increased over the last three years, though by a much more modest rate of 26%. Combined sales of deliveries and takeaways were 114% higher than in April 2019. They accounted for around 24 pence in every pound spent with the managed groups participating in the Tracker. However, sales have plateaued in 2022, as COVID-19 restrictions eased and consumer confidence about eating-out improved. The Hospitality at Home Tracker shows April’s delivery and takeaway sales were 34% below the levels of April 2021, when Britain was emerging from strict COVID-19 restrictions and venues were starting to reopen. Karl Chessell, CGA’s business unit director - hos...

FOOD & DRINK 3 March, 2022 | by The Retail Bulletin Jiffy, the London based local online grocery store with ultrafast delivery, is trialling its first in-house service bakery. The move follows the company’s foray into fresh food last year in which it began offering customers a choice of fresh vegetables and meat. Initially available from Jiffy’s stores in Deptford, Hackney, Stratford and Bethnal Green, the bakery will offer a range of breakfast pastries such as pain au chocolat, all butter croissants, almond croissants and Danish pastries alongside a selection of fresh bread, including white rustic rolls, Parisian baguettes, Tiger bloomers and a white large loaf. The goods are ‘baked to order’ due to the speed at which they can be created, baked and distributed to customers. If the trial is successful, the bakery items will roll out to other stores across London.  The company is also looking to extend its offering to  fresh hot drinks. Jiffy co-founder Vladimir Kholiazniko...

Namnews, 11th February 2022 Waitrose is set to begin a trial of Deliveroo Hop, the dark store-based rapid grocery delivery service Deliveroo debuted in partnership with Morrisons in September  last year . The arrangement with Waitrose will see a ‘Hop’ delivery-only store opened in Bermondsey, London, later this month. The store will offer on-demand deliveries of Waitrose products in as little as ten minutes, from 8am until midnight. The service aims to compete with the numerous rapid grocery delivery start-ups that have sprung up over the last couple of years such as Getir, Gorillas, Jiffy, and Zapp. Using the Deliveroo app to place orders, shoppers can choose from more than 1,000 Waitrose lines on the Hop service. This includes ready meals, vegan ranges, prepared fruit and vegetables, meat and fish, snacks and store cupboard staples, as well as wine, champagne, flowers, and seasonal foods. Deliveroo already works with Waitrose, delivering food from 150 of its supermarkets in aroun...

Namnews, 10th February 2022 UK retailers are bracing for an additional £19.6bn of online home deliveries by 2025 as a result of the impact of Covid-19, according to research from e-commerce delivery technology firm Metapack in partnership with research consultancy Retail Economics. This comes as online is expected to account for 49.7% of total non-food sales by 2025 amid persistent home working. Metapack’s new  Ecommerce Delivery Benchmark report  shows that 27.3% of consumers in the UK now expect to permanently shift more of their shopping online on the back of new behaviours formed since the pandemic. A new wave of ‘digital shifters’ (the consumer cohort permanently switching to shopping more online) is expected to support an additional £22.4bn in online sales compared to a scenario where the pandemic had no impact on shopping behaviours. This acceleration online is projected to lead to £19.6bn of additional sales going through home deliveries alone by 2025, compared to a sc...

The Grocer, By  George Nott ,  Steve Farrell | 19 January 2022 Source: Aldi Aldi has ended its relationship with Deliveroo, today removing 130 stores nationwide from the platform.  The discounter first partnered with the courier business  in May  2020, and rolled out the service to 20 stores in London, Greater Manchester, Cambridge and the Midlands. The number of participating stores had more than doubled by the end of that year, and continued to rise through last year.  Customers living within a 6km radius of the participating stores could choose from about 400 essential Aldi grocery items, which were picked and packed by store staff. The service came with a £4.99 delivery charge and a mark-up on shelf prices.  But a return to more normal shopping patterns has seen demand for the service fall away, The Grocer understands.  The Grocer approached Aldi for comment after spotting several of its stores had disappeared from the platform.  “We have...

Namnews, 24th January 2022 Getir, one of the pioneers of rapid grocery delivery, has marked its first anniversary of operating in the UK by outlining investment plans for the market. Getir’s e-bikes and e-mopeds began making deliveries in London in January 2021. It is now operational in around 20 cities and towns, including Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool and Portsmouth, creating around 4,000 jobs. Globally, the company’s valuation has risen to over US$7.7bn and it has pledged to invest £100m into the UK as it looks to “expand significantly” in 2022 and beyond. It expects its workforce to grow to around 10,000 by the end of this year. Turancan Salur, Regional General Manager, said: “2021 was an extremely successful year for Getir as we began our global expansion. “There is no better city to launch international expansion from than London, due to its worldwide status and welcoming, cosmopolitan and diverse nature. “From only five stores when we opened a year ago, we now serve our cust...

Co-op’s revolutionary scheme to use robots to make home deliveries in Northampton has been expanded to make it available to 150,000 residents in the town. The scheme relies on the boxes-on-wheels robots made by Starship Technologies. Online orders are put together in-store and the robots, which can cross roads and avoid obstacles using sophisticated sensors, deliver up to three miles away. The service was first launched a year ago and now an additional 31,000 households have been added to the network, which includes six Co-op stores in several areas of Northampton. Customers schedule their delivery for a particular address and watch in real-time via an interactive map as the robot makes its journey to them. Once the robot arrives, they receive an alert, and can meet and unlock it through the app. Chris Conway, Co-op’s head of e-commerce, said: “Co-op is committed to exploring new and innovative ways to increase access to our products and services. “Our members and our customers lead bu...

Namnews, 15th October 2021 Russian technology giant Yandex has joined the increasingly crowded rapid grocery delivery market in London. The firm’s ultrafast service will operate under the Yango Deli brand and offer delivery from a selection of more than 2,500 products within 15 minutes. The business model is based on its successful Yandex Lavka grocery service that operates across Russia and follows recent launches in Israel and France as part of an international expansion drive. In London, Yango Deli has launched four so-called ‘dark stores’ – mini warehouses located in residential areas where orders are processed. Located in Bethnal Green, Battersea, Bermondsey and Acton, they initially cover 1.4 million potential customers. The company said it will expand operations across the city in the coming months. “The UK, and London in particular, is an exciting new market for Yango Deli, as the city is especially well suited to the dark store model,” said Yevgeny Chernikov, head of Yango Del...

Namnews, 30th June 2021 Asda is tapping into the growing on-demand grocery channel with the launch of a service that offers home delivery within an hour. However, unlike some other providers, the UK’s third-largest supermarket is making its full online product range available for rapid delivery. The Express Delivery service has been launched at three Asda stores this week following an initial trial. Customers living within a three-mile radius of its Halifax, Rotherham and Poole stores can order up to 70 items from Asda’s 30,000-strong online grocery range for delivery in an hour, with a flat rate charge of £8.50. Larger orders with no limit on the number of items can also be delivered within four hours. The retailer stated that there is potential to quickly roll out the Express Delivery service to more stores if it proves popular with shoppers. Asda also announced today that it is extending its partnership with Uber Eats from 200 to more than 300 stores. This offers a range of 500 ...

 T he Grocer,  By  Lyndsey Cambridge | 23 June 2021 No comments Save article On-demand delivery app Grocemania has kicked off a major dark store expansion, cutting out retailers for the first time with 18 planned new hubs. The first dark store opened this week in Kingston, with a second to follow in Twickenham in July. The remaining 16 hubs will be rolled out in partnership with Valli Forecourts by December. Customers within the Kingston and Twickenham area will be able to receive groceries within 10 to 15 minutes.  The new division will operate alongside Grocemania’s existing tie-ups with more than 300 independent retailers and food producers across  Nisa, Budgens, McColl’s and Spar forecourt stores.  Booker will be supplying the dark stores , alongside local fresh producers. Grocemania said it had invested in state-of-the-art PoS technology to facilitate stock management and help process transactions quick...

  Namnews, 23rd June 2021 Grocemania, the on-demand grocery delivery app that launched in 2018, has opened its first ‘dark store’ for servicing orders in Kingston upon Thames, Greater London. It is the first of two dark stores being launched by the company this summer with a second due to open in Twickenham next month. Grocemania’s app and online platform allow consumers to order groceries for delivery in minutes from Nisa, Londis, Budgens, McColls and SPAR stores located in BP petrol stations, as well as independent retailers like local butchers, fishmongers and producers. The dark stores are being launched as part of Grocemania’s new initiative, GM Local, which highlights the company’s commitment to supporting local producers by digitally connecting them to customers. Users in the same area as the new dark stores will be able to receive their orders within 10 to 15 minutes. Over 300 retailers and producers have already signed up to the app and are trading independently across the...