Co-op extends Uber Eats deal to new convenience app Peckish

Co-op has renewed its partnership with Uber Eats and extended it to new app Peckish, which Co-op launched last month aimed at independents seeking to offer quick commerce.

As well as signing a three-year extension to the tie-up which started in 2022 and now covers more than 1,300 Co-op stores, the retailer is also extending its work with Uber Direct, Uber’s white-label last-mile delivery service.

Uber Direct currently provides the delivery service from Co-op’s own online shop, but will also be available to convenience stores adopting Peckish.

Co-op said it will continue to offer in-app access to Member Prices on Uber Eats – a UK supermarket first for a delivery aggregator app when it was launched in February last year.

The retailer’s Member Prices discounts apply to around 200 products listed by Co-op on the Uber Eats app, which shoppers can claim by inputting their membership number when checking out.

“Innovation is fundamental to our approach, whether extending reach and choice, creating value through Member Price savings, or, delivering the Peckish app to give independent grocery retailers a voice online,” said Chris Conway, Co-op quick commerce director.

“We see consumer appetite for quick, easy and convenient grocery delivery continue to grow, and the agreement with Uber Eats marks the start of a new chapter where we will work together to meet the evolving needs of shoppers and grow Co-op’s leading q-commerce channel,” he added.

The retailer is making a £1m investment into Peckish in its first year, and is hoping to sign up more than 1,000 stores in the next 12 months.

Peckish “overcomes barriers” faced by independents wanting to sell online, and means they “can get on the ladder straight away” Conway told The Grocer at its launch.

Co-op is working with Snappy Shopper, whose technology is behind the consumer-facing portion of the app. But the main “differentiator” is the back-end system, built by Co-op, which links orders to its network of third-party courier partners, including Just Eat and Uber Eats.

“Eighty per cent to 90% of independent retailers haven’t got the means to hire their own drivers – they don’t want to do that,” Conway added. “They want to make it as easy and as simple as possible. That’s the biggest headache: how we’re going to deliver it.

“Uber Eats and Co-op have built a strong and successful partnership, making grocery shopping more convenient than ever,” said Alex Troughton, Uber Eats regional general manager of grocery and retail, EMEA & UK. “We’re thrilled to extend this collaboration and introduce Uber Direct, which will allow Co-op to serve even more customers through its own digital channels while continuing to offer delivery via Uber Eats.”

Co-op is the leading quick commerce supermarket, it says, with more than 86% of the UK population having access to Co-op groceries online via its own shop and its partners.

It has been ramping up its online offering in recent years, and plans to capture close to a third of the store-to-door rapid delivery market by 2027. The retailer’s aim is to take 30% of the UK quick convenience market, which it defines as fast deliveries made from stores to customer homes.