HAS HOME DELIVERY’S TIME ARRIVED?

SALES-BOOSTING SOLUTIONS: HOME DELIVERY

BY ANTONY BEGLEY

Home delivery was already growing rapidly before the Covid-19 crisis even kicked in but in the last month or so it has rapidly evolved into a core service for many local retailers.

Delivering products direct to customers’ homes has been a trend that has been slowly bubbling away over the last year or so with more and more local retailers seeing the potential to significantly grow sales and profits by adding a home delivery service.

Reliable data is thin on the ground but a recent (precoronavirus) report from HIM and MCA Insight found that the UK foodservice delivery market grew by 18% to £8.4bn in 2019. The reportalso predicted that the market would grow a further 9.2% by 2022 – but all of this was before Covid-19 kicked in and home delivery became virtually an emergency service offered by countless local retailers across the UK.

Yes, the report above focuses exclusively on foodservice – mostly delivered fast food – but the trend towards consumers ordering food and drink for delivery to their door is set to open up huge opportunities for local retailers.

Many local retailers have made do with what they have available: a telephone to take orders and a van to deliver them. But there are more and more options out there that retailers can call on to take their home delivery service to the next level.

It seems clear that when Covid-19 is finally in the rear view mirror, many consumers will have gotten used to the convenience of home delivery and will continue taking advantage of the service. A couple of options to consider are an established solution from Snappy Shopper and a brand new one from PayPoint.

SNAPPY SHOPPER

Scottish tech company Snappy Shopper has been making home delivery easy for local retailers since 2018 and app it offers has been a huge success for many users with some adding £7,000 or £8,000 a week in sales without damaging in-store sales.

The average basket spend per order through the app is an eye-watering £21.38 and some stores have seen profits increase by an equally breath-taking 7%.

Among the latest high-profile converts to Snappy Shopper is Blantyre Family Shopper retailer Mo Razzaq.

Customers simply download the app onto their mobile device or use the online site and it will tell them where their nearest Snappy Shopper store is. They can pay by credit card or cash and they can order anything from their nearest store’s range list, typically between 1,500 and 2,000 lines.

Snappy Shopper takes care of all the techy stuff, including uploading barcodes and product photographs. Retailers can continue to add as many lines onto the app as they like.

Orders are received directly to a small terminal in-store which then prints off what is effectively a picking list. The order is made up and is then delivered to the customer in between 30 minutes and an hour.

Typically, stores charge £3 per delivery and the delivery radius is normally around two miles.

As for delivery, retailers have a couple of options available. The first, and the one Snappy Shopper recommends, is to simply deliver using existing store staff and vehicles. The second option is to use selfemployed drivers, although this is not something the company advocates, particularly given the sensitivities around delivery of agerestricted products.

Additionally, the app allows retailers to send notifications direct to shoppers.

FOR MOREINFORMATION, CALL 0333900 1250 OR VISIT WWW.SNAPPYSHOPPER.CO.UK

PAYPOINT

In the last week, PayPoint has announced a partnership deal with Deliveroo, Britain’s leading online food delivery company.

Qualifying retailers can apply to access the proposition with the ability for those selected to be live on Deliveroo in just a few days thanks to a fast-tracked onboarding process.

This new partnership enables selected retailers to drive new revenues and reach a wider customer base at this challenging time.

Deliveries are ordered by customers through the Deliveroo app as normal and fulfilled by its rider network within 30 minutes. All deliveries will be contact free. PayPoint stores will go live gradually on Deliveroo in a phased rollout.

PAYPOINTRETAILERSINTERESTED INFINDING OUT MORE CAN CALL THE PAYPOINTSALES TEAM ON 0330 400 0003OR VISIT WWW.PAYPOINT.COM/DELIVEROO

CASE STUDY: FAISAL NASEEM, FAMILY SHOPPER ARBROATH

“We sell groceries, alcohol, tobacco, vape products and frozen/hotdesserts online via the Snappy Shopper app. We use a self-employeddriver who manages all deliveries. He is paid per delivery and is motivatedto fulfil our one-hour promise and promotes our business by referring theSnappy Shopper app in our area.

“We have partnered with Snappy Shopper for over 18 months and wehave achieved a 25% increase in monthly sales and obtained a largercustomer base now shopping from our store. This allows far better stockrotation and cuts down waste too.”