Sainsbury’s has joined the rush to provide almost-instant home shopping by signing a deal with the food delivery app Just Eat to offer the rapid distribution of groceries from 175 stores.
Under the deal, outlets in London, Edinburgh and Bristol will provide the service from the end of February offering a choice of 3,000 items delivered in less than 30 minutes. Sainsbury’s already offers its own Chop Chop fast delivery service and has partnerships with Deliveroo and Uber Eats.
Siobhan McMullan-Finnegan-Dehn, the director of e-commerce at Sainsbury’s, said: “Just Eat will offer another fast and convenient way for customers to get Sainsbury’s groceries delivered to their door. We are always on the lookout for more ways to make our customers’ lives easier and we look forward to working with Just Eat.”
The partnership follows Just Eat’s earlier tie-ins with Asda and the Co-op to deliver groceries, while all three grocery chains are already working with Deliveroo alongside Morrisons and Waitrose.
Just Eat also works with the rapid delivery service Getir, and its former rival Gorillas has worked with Tesco, which also runs its own rapid service Whoosh, and promises groceries within an hour. Morrisons, meanwhile, has joined up with US-owned rapid delivery group Gopuff, which can deliver in less than half an hour.
Grocery delivery boomed during the pandemic when many were stuck at home, but has since seen consolidation as households aim to save money during the cost of living crisis by picking up goods themselves.
Sainsbury’s said its online grocery sales were down 10% over Christmas, while Tesco’s were down just under 1%. More expensive fast-track delivery operators have suffered in particular, with the Istanbul-based Getir finalising the buy-up of Berlin-headquartered rival Gorillas last month. Weezy, Fancy and Dija – all fast-track startups with operations in the UK – have also been taken over by bigger rivals.
However, a market still does exist. Tesco said its Whoosh service experienced a boom in demand during the men’s football World Cup as people ordered alcohol and snacks while watching matches.