Woolworths partners with Uber to get online deliveries to customers
Woolworths has teamed up with Uber to get more online orders delivered to customers.
The new service provided by Uber will begin at three Townsville-based Woolworths stores before the giant grocery expands it to more cities in "the coming weeks".
"The demand for our home delivery service has grown at an unprecedented rate across Australia in recent months," Woolworths e-commerce director Annette Karantoni said.
"As the COVID-19 situation continues to evolve, it's vital we keep scaling our delivery capacity to meet the essential needs of our communities.
"We see partnerships as an integral part of this effort, and are delighted to team up with Uber to bring the convenience of grocery delivery to even more Australians."
Last week, Woolworths resumed its online delivery services to all customers after previously restricting them to being available only for vulnerable Australians during the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the time of the announcement, Woolworths said it had partnered with couriers Sherpa and Drive Yellow to sign on 5,000 contracted delivery drivers to help get online orders to customers.
Customers that have their orders delivered by one of the partners will receive a notification marked with "partner delivery driver" in the booking system.
For any orders fulfilled by a Woolworths delivery partner including Uber, Drive Yello, or Sherpa, the delivery fees for customers will be the same.
All grocery orders will continue to be placed with Woolworths on its website or app, and each order will be capped at 40 items and delivered the next day.
But Woolworths is not the only retailer that has seen online orders increase.
Myer reported last week its online business has been performing "strongly" and as a result, 20% of team members have been asked to return to work to support online orders at 26 locations across its store and distribution centre network.
Myer said the uptick in online orders has been evident since it closed all of its physical stores on March 29, adding that the stores would continue to remain temporarily closed until at least May 11.
"The strong growth in the online business during the past few weeks has been particularly encouraging," Myer CEO John King said.
"Our plans for reopening our physical stores are well advanced and we look forward to welcoming customers back into stores, when it is safe to do so."