Waitrose extends two-hour delivery service outside London

UK retailer Waitrose & Partners has extended its two-hour rapid delivery service outside London following a trial of the service in the capital.

The upmarket retailer is rolling out the service to Bath and Hove next month, as well as extending its reach in London by adding around 58 new postcodes to the service.

The Rapid Delivery, which launched last September as a trial covering 8 London postcodes, allows customers to pick up to 25 items that are then delivered to their home or office within two hours, or delivered at a one-hour specified time slot on the same day, if they prefer.

Waitrose & Partners’ head of business development Nicola Waller, said it had been a really encouraging start which allowed the retailer to provide greater convenience and flexibility to work around shoppers’ busy lifestyles.

“There is a growing number of customers who want to get their shopping as and when they want it which gives us a great opportunity to continue testing the appetite for the service in new locations both inside and outside of London,” she said.

The delivery service is provided by On the dot, part of delivery company the CitySprint Group, which uses a ‘green fleet’ of cargo bikes, as well as operating hydrogen vans and electric scooters.

On the dot CEO Santosh Sahu said the huge take-up of the service echoed what the company was seeing across the grocery market. “Rapid and convenient delivery has become a key pillar in a shopper’s experience of a brand,” he said.