Booker has landed a deal with electric scooter supplier Eskuta, providing a zero-emission home delivery solution for its symbol retailers.
The partnership means retailers can get access to the bikes at a cheaper price, helping them to avoid costly third-party delivery companies and retain margins, Eskuta said.
MD Ian O’Connor told The Grocer its SX-250 delivery bike, including a spare battery, is offered to Booker retailers with a 23% discount for £2,082 under the deal, compared to the usual cost of £2,636. The bikes can either be bought outright or paid off on 0% interest-free finance.
The eco-friendly bike supplier explained it wanted to provide retailers the additional battery to maximise their continuity of deliveries.
”Having the additional battery means it’s nice and easy to replace the depleted battery with the fully charged one,” added O’Connor. ”The bikes are charged via any 13 amp socket with an adaptor that comes with the bike. The battery can be removed and charged indoors, or you can charge directly into the bike. This ensures the delivery bike is always ready to go.”
Its package offer to Booker also allows retailers to stick symbol group branding onto the bike. However, retailers can opt in to have their own store’s logo on the bike as well, offering “great last-minute visibility” and helping to “reinforce their brand” at the point of drop-off.
Retailers can also get access to a tracking service for an additional £120, which allows them to track where their riders are and how long each delivery is taking.
The tie-up has seen 20 retailers utilise the offer so far, including from Premier, Londis and Budgens. O’Connor said the service works coherently with platforms such as Snappy Shopper, where they provide “the engine for the orders” and Eskuta fulfils the last-mile delivery.
“We feel that we’re empowering these independent retailers to compete with dark store operators,” O’Connor said.
He added: “The demand from customers for convenience stores to offer a delivery service is higher than ever. An Eskuta e-bike provides a cost-effective, sustainable, and importantly easily scalable solution for Booker retailers to expand their business and offer this service to their local community.
“Through our exclusive deal, our aim is to empower Booker store owners to take control of their own delivery service and not rely on costly third party companies. This means retailers retain their profit margins, which in turn means they can scale their delivery service and maximise their store’s exposure through the branding of the bikes in their local area – making their convenience store a valuable and trusted asset to their local community, which is what a local convenience store should be.”
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