Tesco will deliver shopping “in the same time that it takes to pre-heat the oven” through German startup Gorillas, despite having its own rapid service.
From today, its products can be dropped off in ten minutes to customers “in a selected area”.
Gorillas will set up in five large Tesco stores, starting with a 2000-product selection in Thornton Heath, where workers will pick and pack orders.
The retailer has framed the move as adding “yet another convenient service to Tesco’s online offer” because it already has a 60-minute service, Whoosh.
READ MORE: Tesco Whoosh still offline after £15m hack
Chief executive Ken Murphy raised the possibility of cutting its delivery times to 10 minutes in June, but this plan has apparently been shelved.
Waitrose scrapped its in-house grocery service, Rapid, seven months after trialling home deliveries with Deliveroo.
However, Tesco claimed Whoosh has proved “particularly popular with customers” and will expand it to cover over 100 stores by the end of the year.
UK and Republic of Ireland boss Jason Tarry said that reaching shoppers “in just 10 minutes” is “really exciting”.
Curiously, Tesco has been one of the few major supermarkets to resist a partnership with Deliveroo, which also offers 10-minute deliveries.
Tarry continued: “We are committed to being easily the most convenient choice for our customers, enabling them to shop whenever and however they want.
“This pilot with Gorillas will help [them] get their products right away, supporting those looking to buy food for tonight or last minute forgotten items.
“We look forward to hearing what our customers think.”
With Tesco reeling from a hack on Saturday morning, Whoosh was offline for days as the supermarket prioritised regular deliveries and “click and collect”.
The Grocery Gazette can confirm that the service is now back to normal.
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