Waitrose flowers

Waitrose has added flowers to its rapid-delivery range in time for Valentine’s Day

Waitrose has expanded its rapid delivery operation for the second time in a matter of weeks, adding two new postcode areas.

The two-hour London service was available in eight postcode areas at its launch in September last year. Last month Waitrose confirmed four more had been added.

Now a further two have been added to those, bringing the total to 14.

The new postcodes were added yesterday (12 February), and bring the total number of households reached to 200,000 across central London. 

Waitrose said the expansion followed encouraging growth in demand for the delivery service which saw the average number of orders rise weekly by 20%.

The latest new postcodes are EC2 and EC4, added to EC1, SW1, SW3, SW5, SW6, SW7, SW10, SW11, SW18, WC1, WC2 and W1.

Waitrose has also added flowers to the 2,000 products available in time for Valentine’s Day. Customers can order a seasonal selection of blooms for £15. For Valentine’s Day week the blooms will be a mixture of tulips, roses and foliage in shades of cerise and red.

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The delivery service is in partnership with last-mile startup On the Dot, which despatches orders by cargo bicycle or van.

It comes with a £5 delivery charge and minimum £10 order, and is available until 8pm on Mondays to Saturdays and 4pm on Sundays. Customers can request their delivery as soon as possible, in which case it will arrive in under two hours, or for a designated time slot later.

“One of the reasons why we launched Waitrose Rapid Delivery was exactly for occasions like these,” said James Gough, product manager for Waitrose Rapid Delivery.

“Customers increasingly want to buy whatever they want when they want it. Whether you haven’t had time to arrange something for Valentine’s Day, need to quickly get flowers for an office leaving party or simply feel like spontaneously surprising someone, Waitrose Rapid Delivery can help. We understand sometimes there aren’t enough hours in the day and love giving our customers even greater flexibility and convenience to get their shopping as and when they want it.”