Uber Eats has joined up with Asda in the US tech firm’s first step into fast-track grocery delivery in the UK.
The supermarket chain, which has previously tested takeaway and limited grocery deliveries via the Just Eat app in a handful of stores, said the new service would start in two outlets and could be extended to more if successful.
Orders will be prepared in stores by Asda staff before being collected and delivered by couriers linked to the Uber Eats app, the takeaway delivery arm of the San Franciso-based tech firm behind the Uber ride-hailing app and Jump bike hire.
Simon Gregg, vice-president of online grocery at the supermarket chain, said: “This will give Asda customers more choice in how they shop with us and offer yet another way to quickly and conveniently get their favourite branded and own-brand products delivered to the doorstep.”
The partnership is part of an increase in fast-track grocery delivery services during the coronavirus pandemic as shoppers have shifted towards buying food online. Asda is the first large supermarket chain to sign up with Uber Eats. Aldi, the Co-op, Morrisons and Marks & Spencer all work with Deliveroo.
Sainsbury’s has extended its one-hour bicycle delivery service, Chop Chop, to 20 cities across the UK, including Brighton, Bristol, Manchester and Reading, by joining up with the courier firm Stuart, which is part of DPDgroup.
Uber Eats delivers groceries for Carrefour in France and Galp in Portugal, as takeaway delivery services compete for custom with the likes of Amazon Prime. Online grocery sales in the UK increased by 91% in the four weeks to mid-June, according to analysts at Kantar, with nearly one in five UK households buying over the internet.
Before the high street lockdown, about 7% of UK groceries were bought online. Last month it was 12.5%.
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