Deliveroo launches shopping service, but food delivery still the mainstay: Singapore GM

DELIVEROO launched a shopping service on Monday (Nov 4), paving the way for its customers to order a range of retail products across beauty, electronics, florists and pet categories.

The food-delivery platform has found partners in retail brands such as beauty brand Lush, florist Xpressflower and pet retailer Pet Lovers Centre. Deliveroo customers will be able to order products from these retailers – and even get their orders within an hour.

This service started in Deliveroo’s European and Middle East markets, and is now being extended to Singapore.

Jason Parke, general manager of Deliveroo Singapore, said the service came about from the platform focusing on what its customers were looking for and wanted, and consciously homed in on verticals such as beauty, florists and pet supplies.

There is also a new gifting option, through which customers can buy something as a gift and send the recipient a tracking link and an animated gift card. Deliveroo will use machine-learning to help customers browse products based on occasions such as birthdays.

Deliveroo will also work with merchants to optimise the type of merchandise available on its platform. Delivery riders would not, for example, have to deliver 20 kg bags of pet food, but would perhaps deliver smaller bags of between 1 kg and 5 kg instead.

“We identify what the right product mix looks like in terms of what can be delivered, what consumers want, and optimise the right mix with merchants,” said Parke.

Data gathered from consumer patterns will be used to bring on board more retailers and categories of interest. The data will provide insights for Deliveroo merchants to create more customised promotions and campaigns, and tip them off to where customer demand is.

An additional channel

This new offering is not meant to be an entry into the e-commerce space, said Parke.

“I think there is significant space for Deliveroo to come in and fulfil immediate shopping needs,” he said.

Besides customers, Deliveroo views this offering as an opportunity for merchants to gain an additional channel to reach more potential customers. The platform’s delivery radii of between 25 and 30 minutes could open up a new customer base that these merchants would not otherwise have.

“Some of these customers might not be going to the mall where this Lush is located, or have a Pet Lovers Centre in their neighbourhood, but now they (have) access,” said Parke.

This new offering will not lead to Deliveroo deviating from its food-delivery business. Parke said the company is “100 per cent committed to food delivery – and that is our bread and butter”. New sales and accounts teams were built to take on this new shopping offering without taking away resources from the food delivery unit.

Restaurants will remain the core of Deliveroo, with these new offerings meant to help accrue value, not being substitutes for food delivery. The platform recently onboarded McDonald’s as a merchant, signalling its continued focus on food delivery, said Parke.

“The launch of McDonald’s was great – the one quick-service restaurant that we lacked – and by closing that gap, we made a pretty big stride,” he noted.