Uber Eats and Delivery Hero are expanding from providing restaurant meals into supplying groceries to customers stuck at home during lockdowns triggered by the coronavirus crisis.
Uber Eats said on Wednesday April 1 that it is teaming up with French supermarket group Carrefour for a new delivery service aimed at helping Parisians buy essential goods and food, and that it has similar plans for Spain and Brazil.
Berlin-based online marketplace Delivery Hero has also made changes to its operations, which span more than 40 countries, to help get groceries to customers.
Supermarkets remain open in France and elsewhere, though many have restricted the number of shoppers who can enter for safety reasons, while many customers are staying home to avoid catching or spreading infection.
Carrefour and Uber Eats' new service will start with approximately 15 stores in Paris and the surrounding region on April 6, before being rolled out nationwide. The service allows users to choose a Carrefour convenience store on the Uber Eats app or website.
Customers can also order products by phone from 11am to 11pm, including everyday grocery shopping as well as hygiene and cleaning products, and will be able to get deliveries at home within 30 minutes on average.
Uber Eats will waive delivery fees on all Carrefour orders during the month of April.
Carrefour had already been exploring options of this kind before the coronavirus crisis, as supermarket groups face competition from the likes of Amazon.
Last year, Carrefour partnered with Spanish start-up Glovo to provide a home delivery service, and it collaborates with Delivery Hero in Taiwan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Argentina, Chile and Uruguay.
Fast Delivery
In addition to supplying prepared meals, Delivery Hero has set up more than 50 "dark stores" internationally to exploit its warehouse capacity and network of riders to help address increased demand for cupboard staples.
"They are optimised for a very fast delivery of day-to-day goods," Johannes Langguth, senior director of finance systems at Delivery Hero, told Reuters.
The aim is to deliver in less than 20 minutes, faster than restaurant meals, because no time is needed for cooking, he added.
In addition to Carrefour, Delivery Hero also works with other supermarkets to deliver groceries, such as ICA in Sweden and Walmart in Argentina.
Deliveroo Services
In Britain, Deliveroo announced two services in March to help people who are self-isolating because of the coronavirus - the first supplying essentials, such as tinned goods, pasta and household items, and the second, a tie-up with Marks & Spencer's stores on BP forecourts.
Goods such as toilet paper and tissues or tinned tuna are also available for delivery via Deliveroo from Casino-owned Franprix stores in Paris.
Cushioning Uber's Business
For Uber, the grocery delivery operation could help cushion its business against the reduced demand for car rides.
In Spain, Uber Eats said that it is partnering with Galp, an energy and gas station group, to provide home deliveries of cleaning products and toiletries from its convenience stores.
In Brazil, Uber Eats will also work with pharmacies, convenience stores and pet shops to get supplies flowing.
News by Reuters, edited by Hospitality Ireland. Click subscribe to sign up for the Hospitality Ireland print edition.
