UK: Co-op accelerates ecommerce strategy for home delivery
New partnership with Amazon and extension of Starship robot deliveries to fuel online sales.
Co-op is expanding its ecommerce strategy for community-based home deliveries with a new partnership with Amazon and an acceleration of Starship robot deliveries, according to a company’s press release.
The moves are part of an ambitious plan to more than double online sales from £70m to £200m by the end of the year, announces Co-op.
The new strategic partnership and robot rollout are key drivers in Co-op’s plans to speed up “rapid kerb to kitchen grocery delivery services,” says the company.
The partnership with Amazon gives Prime customers the ability to do their full Co-op grocery shop on Amazon.co.uk, with same-day delivery and two-hour scheduled time slots. Initially launching in Glasgow – including surrounding areas such as Hamilton and Paisley - the initiative will be rolled out to other parts of the UK before the end of the year, with an ambition that it will become a nationwide service.
Co-op has also confirmed the extension of its partnership with Starship Technologies, the delivery robot company launched by the co-founders of Skype, which allows the delivery of groceries in around 20 minutes. The convenience retailer will increase the number of autonomous vehicles operating and delivering Co-op groceries from 200 to 500 by the end of this year, bringing them to five new towns and cities, including Cambridgeshire, and extending the service into the North of England.
