Sainsbury’s joined the frenzy to offer almost instant home shopping and signed a deal to deliver groceries to 175 stores via the food delivery app Just Eat.
The service will be available in London, Edinburgh, and Bristol starting February 31st. It offers a selection of 3,000 items that can be delivered in under 30 minutes. Sainsbury’s offers its Chop Chop fast delivery service, and has partnerships with Deliveroo or 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’re always looking for ways to make customers’ lives easier, and we look forward working with Just Eat.
This partnership comes on the heels of Just Eat’s previous tie-ins to Asda, Co-op and Co-op to deliver groceries. All three grocery chains have already begun working with Deliveroo along with Morrisons and Waitrose.
Just Eat works with Getir, a rapid delivery company that delivers groceries in under an hour. Its former rival Gorillas also worked with Tesco. Morrisons has teamed up with Gopuff, an American-owned rapid delivery company that can deliver groceries in under 30 minutes.
Grocery delivery was a big business during the pandemic, when many people were left at home. However, it has been consolidating as households look to cut costs during the cost-of-living crisis.
Sainsbury’s reported that its online grocery sales fell 10% over Christmas while Tesco’s was down just under 1 percent. Istanbul-based Getir completed the purchase of Berlin-based rival Gorillas, which has caused more problems for fast-track delivery companies. Weezy, Fancy, and Dija, all fast-track startups that have UK operations, were also taken over by larger rivals.
However, a market still does exist. Tesco stated that its Whoosh service saw a surge in demand during the men’s football World Cup, when people ordered alcohol and snacks to watch matches.