Rapid grocer Gopuff is picking items from Morrisons stores and delivering direct to app users, The Grocer can reveal.
In most areas it covers, the quick-commerce player picks from its own network of dark stores, dispatching baskets to arrive at customer doorsteps “in just 15 minutes”.
However, in an ongoing trial Gopuff is picking, packing and dispatching orders made through its app from three Morrisons’ supermarkets in London, Newcastle, and Watford. It is understood the pilot has been ongoing for several months.
At Morrisons’ store in Camden, north west London, Gopuff is understood to be fulfilling orders from the supermarket during its opening hours, before switching operations to its own dark store overnight. This means a different range of products is available to Gopuff users in the area depending on the time of day.
Gopuff forged a multiyear supply deal with Morrisons in 2022, which means “thousands” of Morrisons grocery items are available on the Gopuff platform, and supplied to its network of dark stores.
“The partnership is built on a shared commitment to providing an unmatched customer experience and a mutual focus on delivering a truly local proposition,” a joint statement at the time said.
“Because of their owned models, Gopuff and Morrisons have the ability to customise and adapt to evolving customer needs quickly and strategically,” the two companies said. “Gopuff has control of the end-to-end delivery supply chain and Morrisons controls the manufacturing, wholesaling and retailing.”
The Morrisons store-pick model is a significant development to that initial deal, which Gopuff said was part of the business’ continual evolution to ensure it was providing customers with the best possible experience.
Tom Foulk, director of Cornwall food delivery platform Kernow Eats, considered the move as “more of a pivot contingency plan”.
“It’s nowhere near what they’ve initially set out to do but in the current moment it might be a good avenue for Gopuff,” he told The Grocer.
“It’s an awful idea on its own but given the circumstances it can and is helping with growth. It does allow for growth while limiting the additional dark store property costs. At the same time Gopuff is essentially competing with Morrisons using Morrisons’ own products, under the same roof.”
In 2021, Tesco launched a pilot with rapid delivery company Gorillas. The pilot saw Gorillas set up micro-fulfilment sites at five large Tesco stores, where orders were picked, packed and delivered to customers “in the time it takes to pre-heat the oven”. The same year Tesco launched its own 60-minute grocery delivery service, Tesco Whoosh. Tesco abandoned the Gorillas partnership the following year.
“We remain focused on being the most convenient retailer for our customers across the UK and we continue to offer rapid delivery through our Whoosh service,” a Tesco spokeswoman told The Grocer at the time.
Turkish delivery company Getir bought its German rival Gorillas in a deal worth $1.2bn in 2022. Getir exited the UK last year, as well as its other European markets, to retreat to its homeland.
US player Gopuff – which late last year began price matching Aldi on more than 50 popular items – and relative minnow Zapp, which since 2023 has concentrated its focus on affluent, central London customers, are the last of the flood of rapid grocery players that arrived in the UK during the pandemic.
Gopuff has been rolling out 24/7 deliveries across its dozens of dark store sites, with the option now available in Cambridge, Salford, London (Bow, Holloway and Stratford), Swansea, Liverpool, Newcastle, Bristol, Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham and Cardiff. It operates until 2am in the other areas it serves.
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