TWC: half of consumers find rapid delivery of groceries appealing

New research from digital and data experts TWC has revealed that half of consumers find the idea of delivery of groceries in half an hour – or less – appealing. Interest was highest amongst those living in London and younger consumers.

The TWC Trends research was conducted in June 2022 and showed that 51 per cent of consumers found the idea of rapid grocery delivery appealing, rising to 69 per cent of those living in London. This over-index coincides with the greater presence of the quick commerce tech start-ups such as Gorillas, Getir, GoPuff and Zapp, but also relates to the demographic make-up of the capital, for example London has the highest proportion of people working, who are more likely to need rapid delivery solutions.

Awareness of the individual operators was highest for Getir and Gorillas at 17 per cent (total GB). Within London, Gorillas was best known (46 per cent awareness), followed by Getir at 41 per cent.

The primary reasons consumers cited for using rapid delivery firms were that the shops are too far away (42 per cent agreement); the shops are closed (35 per cent); not having to wait long for delivery (35 per cent); and bad weather preventing me from leaving the house (28 per cent).

Consumers reported typical spends of over £20 on each occasion, with over half exceeding this level of spend. This is over double the typical instore convenience basket and reflects the willingness to pay a premium for the convenience of delivery as well as the premium selection of goods on offer via some of the apps, including fine wines and electronics.

Sarah Coleman, Communications Director at TWC shared some of the findings from the research at the Federation of Wholesale Distribution (FWD) conference on 30 June. She comments:

“We are seeing really high levels of consumer interest in rapid delivery of grocery and there is strong evidence that these services attract a different consumer to traditional convenience stores, as well as driving bigger baskets.”

“That said, these services boomed during the pandemic when demand was incredibly high, with many people isolating and lots of shops and services unable to open. Now the world is opening up again, plus the macro-economic climate is challenging, which means investors in rapid delivery and looking for sustainable, long-term business models and consequently we are seeing consolidation and scaling back of some operations.”

The TWC Trends Summer Edition 2022 series is based on the views and sentiments of over 1,000 consumers across the UK. The research was conducted 14-18 June 2022.