Morrisons promises ‘under 30 minute’ deliveries with Deliveroo

Workers will now be able to order their lunchtime meal deal directly from Morrisons, as the retailer confirms it will extend its partnership with food delivery company, Deliveroo.

Through the collaboration, customers can order groceries from 500 Morrisons Daily convenience stores by ordering them from the Deliveroo app.

The move means Morrisons is the latest major supermarket to double down on quick commerce. Changing customer needs have led many businesses to prioritise investment in speedier customer purchases over in-store service.

More reasons to shop at Morrisons

Morrisons’ first partnered with Deliveroo, a tech unicorn which we named on our Startups 100 Index in 2016, back in 2020. The new partnership will be available at roughly a third of Morrisons’ 1,600 Morrisons Daily convenience stores.

Deliveroo first collaborated with Morrisons in 2021 on a delivery-only grocery store called ‘Deliveroo Hop’, after the COVID lockdowns made online shopping the norm for consumers.

While lockdown has ended, the dominance of remote working in UK workplaces has seen many food chains, such as Papa John’s, lose a prime audience as employees make lunch at home rather than buying the traditional (and increasingly expensive) office meal deal.

The extended partnership will enable Morrisons to target home workers by giving them a convenient option to order in. Typically based at forecourts and in busy urban areas across the UK, Morrisons convenience stores are usually also located nearer to office workers.

The rapid rise of on grocery delivery

The grocery partnership has been equally beneficial for Deliveroo. Last month, Deliveroo reached a major milestone by making its first profit after branching out from its original takeaway service offering into more retail deliveries.

Results published on August 1 show that the platform earned £1.3m in the first half of 2024. This is compared to the £82.9m loss it made during the same period last year.

The company’s retail delivery arm showed notable growth. While the company said it was “early days” for this service, it attributed its profit windfall to the rising number of shoppers using its platform for mid-sized shopping baskets worth between £30 and £60.

The market is increasingly crowded, however. Rival rapid delivery firms, such as Ocado and Uber Eats, are also investing in their respective partnerships with Sainsbury’s and Waitrose.

Grocery reportedly now accounts for 40% of all Uber Eats orders. The platform recently added a new feature that allows users to tell couriers what items they want from the supermarket shelves in real-time. Black Mirror-ish? Maybe. But customers are eating it up.

Customers after convenience

The success of rapid delivery and grocery retail partnerships offers critical customer insights for UK businesses. For the modern consumer, convenience is everything.

Earlier this month, Waitrose owner John Lewis Partnership (JLP) confirmed it will open 100 new ‘Little Waitrose’ convenience stores as it aims to move into localised shopping.

SMEs should now be considering how they might strengthen their own business offering by creating an easier sales experience for customers. Purchasing faster payment technologies, or partnering with rapid couriers, could be a smart way to adopt a customer-centric strategy.

“Our partnership with Deliveroo has gone from strength to strength since we started working together,” said Joseph Sutton, Convenience, Online & Wholesale Director at Morrisons.

“Customers tell us how important rapid delivery services are to them,” he added. “We’re delighted to be extending the Deliveroo service and making it available from 500 stores.”