Uber is exploring how it brings it grocery offering to New Zealand. It is being trialled through its Uber Eats app in Australia. Photo / Getty Images
Uber is exploring how it brings it grocery offering to New Zealand. It is being trialled through its Uber Eats app in Australia. Photo / Getty Images
Ordering the butter you forgot to pick up with the groceries over the weekend - or doing your full shop - via Uber will soon become a possibility.
The US ridesharing giant, which is testing the concept of allowing groceries to be bought through its Uber Eats app in Melbourne,is looking to bring the concept to New Zealand permanently, in some shape or form, though it is tight-lipped on when.
Similarly to its model for delivering meals through Uber Eats, it wants to be able to deliver groceries or a single ingredient to users within the same 30-minute timeframe.
Uber head of New Zealand, Elisa Janiec, was unable to discuss the specifics of an Uber Grocery launch in this country, but said the San Francisco-based company was taking learnings from the trial under way in Melbourne to inform a future launch here.
Janiec said the San Francisco-based company began looking into the possibility of grocery and snack delivery on the back of demand and following the response to Uber Eats.
Uber Eats at the end of last year partnered with New Zealand convenience store chain Night 'n Day to offer snacks on delivery through its app from more than 20 of its stores nationwide. This was the first "test" to see if Uber Grocery would work in this market - which it does, Janiec told the Herald.
"We've done grocery trials in Melbourne which seem to be very promising with the results, we've had good indication from customers, so now we're working through what does scaling that look like across the region," she said.
She said it was not yet decided if the grocery offering would operate through its own app or via a grocery tag in the Uber Eats app, as it is being trialled through at present, she said.
In Melbourne, Uber Eats has partnered with supermarkets and smaller operators such as Coles and IGA to offer grocery delivery. The company would look to do the same or similar here, but had undecided on "the best approach", she said.
"You always have the 'Oh I forgot the bread' or 'I've run out of milk' and it's about tackling that occasion to get it delivered at a touch of a button.
"It is very much about leveraging that convenience arm that everyone says they love."
The expansion into delivering grocery items was a natural progression, Janiec said, as many restaurants typically sold chocolate bars or ice creams.
Uber would look to partner witZh as many chains and independent convenience stores as possible as Uber Eats had proven that users "valued choice" and "the more choice they have the more that they respond to the offer", she said.
The catch? Buying groceries on Uber could incur an additional charge. In Australia, there is a "pick and pack fee" on top of the delivery charge. The charge covers a grocery chain using its own resource to essentially shop on the user's behalf and pack the shopping to then be picked up and delivered by a driver.
Long term, Janiec said she could envision users doing their entire weekly grocery shop through Uber.
New offerings such as Uber Grocery would be the next wave of growth for Uber, she said.
Elisa Janiec, Uber head of New Zealand and regional Australia. Photo / Jed Bradley
From April, the ridesharing giant will begin to expand its Uber Eats business to seven new cities in New Zealand, it is set to announce these locations later in the week. By the end of the year, Uber Eats will be live in 13 New Zealand cities.
"Getting food delivered at a touch of a button is not just a big city thing, or an Auckland thing - it's a convenience everyone wants," she said.
"The next wave is through new products and also new customer experiences. For example, looking into the likes of grocery, looking into the likes of new product optimisations that can improve the experience for eaters, making sure the food gets delivered as quickly as possible."
Uber Eats recently launch a pick up function, similar to click-and-collect for regular online shopping.
