Waitrose & Partners

Source: Waitrose

  • The Rapid service is being expanded to an additional 20 shops in London

  • Waitrose has also added a further 10,000 click & collect slots 

  • The retailer is currently “making more online deliveries than Christmas week, every week”

 

Waitrose is rolling out its online ‘Rapid’ delivery service and expanding click & collect slots by 50% as demand for e-commerce remains at Christmas levels.

The Rapid service, which delivers a basket of up to 25 grocery items in less than two hours, has been trialled in eight stores in London, as well as in Hove, East Sussex.

From today, it will be expanded to an additional 20 shops in the capital, increasing available slots from 2,000 to 7,000 and giving 2.5 million households access to the service.

At least 40% of the new slots will be reserved exclusively for elderly and vulnerable customers, with Waitrose contacting those on the government’s vulnerable list to inform them of priority access.

The supermarket has also added a further 10,000 click & collect slots – taking the total number available to 30,000 – with the introduction of the service to 70 more stores by the end of May.

Waitrose said it expected click & collect to be available at 40 shops by the end of this month.

As with Waitrose.com delivery slots, at least a quarter of collections will be reserved for the elderly and vulnerable.

“We are now making more online deliveries than Christmas week, every week, and have increased slots to reach 20% more customers than usual,” said Waitrose online director Ben Stimson.

“We know there is demand for more slots and we are doing all we can to give as many people as possible the opportunity to get the essentials they need – especially those who need them the most.

“In addition to opening up more channels through expanding Waitrose Rapid and increasing the number of stores where online orders can be collected, we have recruited hundreds of drivers and increased the number of extra people-hours picking Waitrose.com orders by nearly 50%.”

Waitrose Rapid will be available in the following London areas from 17 April: Barbican, Belgravia, Brent Cross, Buckhurst Hill, Canary Wharf, Chiswick, Clapham Junction, Enfield, Finchley Road, Harrow Weald, High Holborn, King’s Cross, Mill Hill, Monument, Putney, Richmond, South Bank Tower, South Harrow, Stratford and Whetstone.

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