UK- Online food ordering and delivery platform Uber Eats has unveiled a range of new features for grocery delivery, including requiring its couriers to pick and pack orders to enhance efficiency amid high competition and ballooning demand in grocery orders in the UK.
The e-commerce platform revealed that customers will connect directly with an Uber Eats courier who will go to their retail outlet on their behalf, pick up and pack their order, and deliver it to the customer’s preferred drop-off locations.
In the courier pick and pack feature, customers will communicate with couriers in real time as they walk into the stores to allow for correct substitutions for products that are out of stock.
The new feature also includes aisle indexing, which helps couriers locate product placements easily and expedites the shopping process.
Uber Eats has lauded the move, alluding that offering an extra layer of convenience will help the grocery company consolidate market share in a rapidly growing e-commerce market.
Susan Anderson, Uber’s Head of Grocery and Retail, said, “Our busy lifestyles mean we physically go to the supermarket for a big shop less frequently and prefer to rely more on apps like Uber Eats to order fresh grocery ingredients when we want them.”
“We’re seeing that customers don’t necessarily need things in 10 minutes. Within that 30 minutes to an hour is really what customers are looking for. But it’s the range of what they can get in that space—it’s going to increasingly matter, and that [is what] people will start pushing the dimensions on.”
The company revealed its grocery orders have more than doubled in the past two years as more players enter the market.
Competitors like Gopuff, for example, disrupted the market after its entry in 2021 because it specializes in rapid grocery delivery. The company currently covers 70% of the greater London area and is expected to consolidate more market share in the UK.
The move is a response to such entrants and players in the market. Analysts predict a period of rapid expansion of the ecommerce market as players continue to find more innovative solutions to customers.
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