Waitrose pilots While You’re Away delivery service
Waitrose is trying out a service which will allow drivers to let themselves into customers’ homes while they are out and put their groceries away. The retailer will initially test demand for the ‘While You’re Away’ offering with 100 customers located within the delivery area of its dotcom fulfilment centre in Coulsdon, south London.
Using Yale smart lock technology, the customer grants access to a delivery driver by setting a temporary access code for the lock which is then sent to Waitrose via an app. The code is then sent to the driver’s device at the time the customer has booked for the delivery and is deleted once the delivery is complete.
The driver will put refrigerated and frozen goods away and leave other groceries on the kitchen counter, or as instructed by the customer. The whole delivery is captured on a chest-cam worn by the driver, with the video available for request for the customer the next working day.
There is a minimum order of £25 and, given the small number of customers involved at this stage, there is a minimum number of six orders, although this will be reviewed after the trial. If it’s a success, Waitrose will look to make the service available to more than 1,000 customers in spring 2019.
“There is certainly an increasing demand among our customers to make shopping with us even more convenient to fit around their busy lifestyles,” says Archie Mason, Head of Business Development at Waitrose & Partners.
“Rather than waiting for a delivery or trying to put everything away, it gives customers more flexibility to use that time differently, including more time enjoying cooking and eating the food they've bought. The concept of ‘in-home delivery’ has started to prove popular in other countries so we are keen to establish if there is an appetite for it in the UK.”