Amazon Now hits Lewisham and Battersea as on demand delivery service continues London expansion

Amazon Now has gone live in Lewisham and Battersea in London. This follows the launch during January of QLD1 - the first Amazon Now on demand delivery site in the UK.

The service lets customers purchase thousands of everyday essentials, such as groceries and personal care items, that will be delivered within minutes. In India, it last year brought ten-minute delivery to Mumbai following launches in Bengaluru and Delhi, with 100+ micro-fulfilment centres operational.

In a LinkedIn post, Elisa Michelin Salomon, Ops Lead, EU Quick Commerce, said: "What an incredible day yesterday (19th March). We went live with two new Amazon Now sites in London. Fresh groceries and everyday essentials can now be delivered in as fast as 30 minutes in Battersea and Lewisham."

"A huge team effort behind the scenes - incredible coordination across multiple teams to successfully launch two sites on the same day. Proud to be part of this journey and excited for what’s next."

Amazon Now

Amazon Now recently went live in Lewisham and Battersea in London. This follows the launch during January of QLD1 - the first Amazon Now on demand delivery site in the UK.

Our Editor and Founder, Scott Thompson, lives in the Lewisham area, and on Saturday afternoon decided to take Amazon Now for a spin.

After placing an order (receiving free delivery on orders over £15 (limited time offer, standard fee £2) and choosing from a decent selection of Morrisons, by Amazon and branded products - pretty reasonable prices also - there's are Tesco Price Match and Big Savings section), he was informed that delivery would be within 23 minutes.

The order turned up (via bike) within 17 minutes and all products were in stock.

A second order was placed on Sunday morning, with delivery this time promised within 22 minutes. Somewhat confusingly, one item turned up within 16 minutes (a bottle of bleach) with the real-time tracker stating that the rest of the items would arrive via a different driver/cyclist a few minutes later.

The remainder of the order was then abruptly cancelled, with an email stating that “payment couldn't be completed. You won't be charged for the cancelled items. An issuing bank will often decline an attempt to charge a card if the name, expiry date, or post code you entered doesn't match the bank's information.*

NB: there were sufficient funds in Scott’s account.

A mixed bag, then, but we will give them the benefit of the doubt and put this down to teething issues.

We would also echo Prof. Dr. Stephan Rüschen’s comment about not really needing same-day delivery on any of the aforementioned products. But hey ho, that’s another article entirely.

2026 RTIH Innovation Awards

On demand delivery will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards are now open for entries and celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Wednesday, 4th November.

Check out our 2025 winners here.

Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”

“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”

He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”

Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.