Waitrose has today announced that it will expand its Deliveroo service to 110 new shops across the UK with up to 400 new Waitrose shop roles created by the expansion plan.
It will increase the number of Waitrose shops on Deliveroo to 150 in total by the end of the summer and is expected to take the number of people who are able to order Waitrose food on Deliveroo to around 13 million.
The partnership is a central part of Deliveroo’s expansion strategy across the UK, currently at 60% of the UK population.
As a result of the two-year deal, Deliveroo customers will be able to order from an increased range of between 750 to 1,000 products and have it delivered in as soon as 20 minutes from Waitrose shops in Scotland, the North West, North East, Midlands, South West, South East and London.
New locations on Deliveroo will include shops in Cheltenham, Lincoln, Exeter, York and Sheffield.
Up to 400 new jobs will be created in those Waitrose shops where it’s being introduced to fulfil orders ready to be collected and delivered by Deliveroo.
James Bailey, executive director for Waitrose, said: “We have grown our online business at pace in the last year, responding to huge demand for online groceries and offering more choice in when and how people want to shop with us.
“We know convenience is key for many of our customers and the expansion of the service with Deliveroo will play an integral role in helping us make Waitrose food more convenient than ever before.”
Waitrose began a five-store trial with Deliveroo in September last year and is currently available from 40 shops.
Today’s announcement follows Deliveroo’s Q1 trading update. Growth accelerated for the fourth consecutive quarter, with Group orders up 114% year-on-year to 71 million and 7.1 million monthly active consumers on average in Q1 2021.
As of the end of Q1 2021, Deliveroo has reached over 60% of the UK population, adding over six million people to its coverage.
