Deliveroo continuing its march into groceries

Deliveroo is continuing its march into groceries with a major expansion of services across the UK, the Mail can reveal. 

The food delivery firm is set to offer grocery deliveries to another 125 towns and cities this year, taking the total covered to about 300 overall. 

It means millions of extra households will be able to order products ranging from fresh vegetables to chocolate and even over-the-counter medicines for delivery in under an hour, using the firm’s app. 

Expansion: The food delivery firm is set to offer grocery deliveries to another 125 towns and cities this year

Supermarkets including Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Co-op, Booths and Aldi are signed up to the platform, as well as more niche chains such as Daylesford Organic, Farmdrop, Majestic Wine and Partridges in London. 

Deliveroo is also reportedly planning a highly anticipated float in London this year. 

Its groceries service has been positioned as an alternative to online shopping services offered by major providers such as Tesco and Ocado, which shoppers must book further in advance and can struggle to get slots for. 

However, most customers are not expected to use the service for weekly shops, rather using it for short-notice shops to buy essentials. The most commonly purchased groceries on the app so far are milk, fruit, eggs, chicken breast fillets, chocolate, avocados. 

Deliveroo, which has more than 50,000 riders in the UK said its latest expansion would mean two thirds of the UK population would be able to buy groceries from it – potentially setting the firm up as a major player in grocery deliveries. 

The firm said in its accounts that groceries is the fastest-growing part of its business. 

Will Shu, Deliveroo’s founder and boss, said: ‘At Deliveroo we want to do everything possible to help households get the food they need and make sure families across the country have a wide selection of amazing food, drink and household products to order in as little as 20 minutes.’

Deliveroo see groceries as a promising new frontier, after the app originally only offered takeaway deliveries. 

However, competition is now heating up and Deliveroo is seeking to position itself as a key player in delivering all kinds of food – not just restaurant and takeaway meals. 

That has seen its grocery platform grow to feature more than 1,500 grocery and convenience retailers, including independent retailers, franchises such as Nisa Local, delis and even petrol station shops run by BP and Shell. 

The firm secured a major investment from Amazon last year and the internet shopping giant is now its biggest shareholder with a 16.2 per cent stake. 

It is expected to float later this year with a possible value of £5billion or more – meaning Shu could potentially make £350m for his 6.9 per cent stake.