Deliveroo And UK Grocer Sainsbury’s Expand Delivery Trial

U.K. delivery service Deliveroo will provide goods from around 100 Sainsbury’s stores — up from 10 stores involved in a trial arrangement — under a new, two-year deal, the companies jointly announced in a press release.

Of the approximately 100 new stores Deliveroo will serve, 22 are in London and the rest are spread around the U.K., according to the release. Cities added to the Deliveroo-Sainsbury’s collaboration include Glasgow, Liverpool, Newcastle, Leeds, Aberdeen and York.

“We are excited to continue expanding this partnership in the weeks ahead and offer Sainsbury’s amazing products to even more customers across the U.K.,” said Deliveroo Chief Marketplace Officer Eric French in the release.

Sainsbury’s Director of eCommerce Nigel Blunt said in the release: “Working with Deliveroo has helped us offer home grocery deliveries to even more customers, bringing them a super-fast service when they need something in a hurry. We know how much Sainsbury’s customers value being able to shop for food as quickly and conveniently as possible, and we’re delighted to be able to expand this service further.”

Deliveroo said in the release it makes some deliveries as soon as 20 minutes after customers place orders. The most popular products for delivery during the 10-store trial period were “Sainsbury’s Fairtrade Bananas, Sainsbury’s British Semi Skimmed Milk, Sainsbury’s Whole Cucumber, Sainsbury’s Medium Ripe & Ready Avocados and Sainsbury’s Woodland Free Range Large Eggs.”

While delivery services have helped grocery stores maintain business during the pandemic, in many cases, the revenue hasn’t been enough to offset lost foot traffic. Sainsbury’s announced in November that it was cutting 3,000 jobs nationwide as a result of the pandemic.

Deliveroo’s new expanded arrangement with Sainsbury’s follows a difficult first week of public trading in its stock earlier this month. The company, which is backed by Amazon, saw its share price fall 26 percent during its first full day of trading.