Uber Eats and Coles announce delivery partnership

Coles and Uber Eats have announced a partnership to deliver on-demand grocery service through the Uber Eats app, with thousands of products available to order through the app for near instant delivery.

This news comes just days after two start up on-demand grocery delivery companies announced their collapse due to financing issues. Unlike Uber Eats, the now defunct MilkRun in particular rejected the gig-work model that has unions keeping a close eye on the food delivery giant that now is one step closer to monopolising the in-demand food delivery industry.

Coles General Manager of Digital Operations & Ventures, Claire Pallot, said, “We’re delighted to expand our partnership with Uber Eats to offer Australians a fast, reliable, and affordable option for getting fresh produce and groceries delivered to their doorsteps. Customers can continue to enjoy great value and quality produce they find at Coles, but with the convenience of on-demand delivery through Uber Eats.”

Launching today, Melbourne customers will be the first to see Coles available on the app from nearly 40 locations, with plans to add more than 500 Coles stores across the country onto the platform in the coming months. This will make Coles the biggest grocery retailer on the app.

“We’re excited to be extending our partnership with Coles to bring an incredible selection of fresh produce and everyday grocery items to Aussie customers,” said Lucas Groeneveld, Uber Eats Regional General Manager of Retail, ANZ. “Uber Eats’ goal is to meet customers’ growing desire to get (almost) anything they need delivered on-demand, and this expansion will supercharge the wide variety of groceries available on the app.”

Each delivery placed with Coles through Uber Eats will be packed and delivered by a delivery person using the Uber Eats platform. Similar to America’s Instacart, a new ‘Pack and Deliver’  feature will allow delivery people to communicate with customers directly in-app so that any out-of-stock items are replaced by an item of their choice.

In the coming months, Uber will also support Coles and Liquorland with last-mile delivery for their online customers. Upon checkout, customers can choose to have their online purchases delivered within two hours by Uber.

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