Deliveroo, the British online food delivery firm, has reportedly inked a partnership deal with the British high-street retailer, WH Smith, to deliver products such as books, phone chargers, stationery, exam study guides, and toys to the consumers on fast-track delivery bikes.
The high-street firm will provide over 600 products for delivery in less than 20 minutes, following in the footsteps of pharmacies, supermarkets, and restaurants, who provide similar services.
WH Smith high street division managing director, Sean Toal, stated that the firm is continuously seeking new methods to satisfy the consumers both online and in-store by offering an amazing shopping experience.
WH Smith's website, like many others, rapidly rose in popularity during the pandemic, with sales tripling in the summer and spring of 2020. The platform already provides next-day delivery to homes and in-store collection.
The chain’s Reading unit will be the first of ten stores to benefit from the new deal, with Cambridge, Oxford, Brighton, Leeds, Guildford, St Albans, Richmond, London’s Muswell Hill, and Chiswick following suit next week.
Carlo Mocci, Deliveroo's Irish and UK chief business officer, stated that the partnership with WH Smith would provide customers with more options and generate more employment for delivery agents across the UK.
Deliveroo, which began as a takeaway delivery service, has significantly expanded into additional areas in recent years. It met demands for home delivery of food supplies during the pandemic through ties with Waitrose, Morrison's, Sainsbury's, and Tesco's One Stop chain of convenience stores, as well as the Co-op, which covered roughly 6,000 supermarkets throughout Ireland and the UK. Lloyds Pharmacy and Majestic Wine are among the clients it serves.
The demand for expedited delivery has fueled the emergence of niche companies such as Getir, Gorillas, and GoPuff, which have received hundreds of millions of pounds in funding to extend their network of mopeds and bikes that transport goods.
Source credit: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/mar/29/deliveroo-extends-its-range-adding-new-partner-wh-smith-products