British upmarket supermarket group Waitrose has teamed up with rapid delivery firm Uber Eats to provide its groceries to shoppers' homes in as little as 20 minutes, the companies have announced.
Waitrose, part of the employee-owned John Lewis Partnership, said the 'multi-year' partnership has launched on the Uber Eats platform in five London stores, and will roll out to over 200 stores by the end of August.
Online's share of the total grocery market in Britain was about 7% before COVID-19. It peaked at about 15% during the pandemic but has since come off to 10.4%, according to market researcher NIQ.
Uber Eats Deal
Waitrose said the deal with Uber Eats builds on its existing partnership with Deliveroo and its own online shopping business.
"On-demand grocery shopping continues to grow in popularity with our customers, and partnering with Uber Eats means we have even more flexibility to be there for them whenever they need us," commented James Bailey, executive director for Waitrose.
Uber Eats already partners with UK supermarkets Sainsbury's, Asda, Morrisons, the Co-op and Iceland.
Read More: Uber Eats' Matthew Price On The Changing Face Of Grocery Delivery
Chief Financial Officer
Elsewhere, Uber Technologies' chief financial officer Nelson Chai is planning to leave the ride-hailing company, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Chai informed Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi of his intentions to move on, though a decision on the timing of his departure hasn't been made, according to the report.
Chai was brought in at Uber as finance chief in 2018 and he shepherded the company through its IPO a year later.
Uber is cutting costs even as it rides an upswing in its business as commuters return after COVID restrictions eased. The company said in May it was on track to post operating income profits this year. [Additional reporting by ESM]
