Waitrose trials its rapid delivery service outside London

 Waitrose & Partners is to extend its Waitrose Rapid Delivery trial outside London for the first time following its success in the capital.

The service, which enables customers to have up to 25 grocery items from a choice of more than 2,000 products, delivered to their home or office, within two hours or less or on the same day, will be available in both Bath and Hove from the 8 and 15 July, respectively.

The retailer is also adding 58 London postcodes in areas, including Battersea, High Street Kensington, Bayswater, Victoria and Kingston.

Rapid launched in September 2018 after Waitrose & Partners teamed up with On the dot, the last mile retail delivery startup. Since the launch, the retailer has increased the number of postcodes its available in from eight to 98, giving it the potential to reach up to 1.2 million households, and average weekly orders have doubled.

Earlier this year, the retailer announced that it had added freshly made sushi to the range of products available through the service to become the only national supermarket to currently offer made-to-order sushi with same-day delivery.

Nicola Waller, Head of Business Development at Waitrose & Partners, says: “Waitrose Rapid Delivery has had a really encouraging start, allowing us to provide even greater convenience and flexibility to work around shoppers’ busy lifestyles.  There is a growing number of customers who want to get their shopping as and when they want it which gives us a great opportunity to continue testing the appetite for the service in new locations both inside and outside of London.”

Santosh Sahu, CEO at On the dot, adds: “The huge popularity and take-up of the service echoes what we’re seeing across the grocery market – rapid and convenient delivery has become a key pillar in a shopper’s experience of a brand. Shoppers now expect a range of delivery options at the checkout – retailers like Waitrose recognise this and are always looking for new ways to make it easier to shop with them.”