Majestic Wine has launched a new on-demand delivery partnership with courier specialists Gophr, in a bid to ramp up its retail and on-trade delivery ahead of a busy summer of sports.

The new partnership will allow Majestic shoppers to purchase large volumes of wine, beers and spirits in-store, and receive rapid same-day delivery within hours, using Gophr’s on-demand fleet of couriers across the UK.

The tie-up will help Majestic win big during a summer of sports where the drinks retailer is anticipating a surge in sales around events such as the Euro 2024 Championships, Paris Olympics, T20 Cricket World Cup, Wimbledon Tour de France, The Open gold championships and the British Grand Prix.

Majestic said that it was gearing up for the biggest summer of beer sales in its 44-year history, with a forecast of an 15% uplift year-on-year and the success of certain products, such as English Sparkling wines and limited edition Team GB bottles.

The Gophr partnership has been successfully trialled in regions including London, Carlisle, Shrewsbury and Yeovil.

The delivery specialist will also aid Majestic in boosting its service during peak periods to support the wine retailer by covering any driver absences or sicknesses of its existing network of 220 delivery vans.

Majestic Wine CEO John Colley said: “We know that our customers value the convenience and flexibility of getting expert advice from our store colleagues and paying for their orders in person, before having their wines delivered to their doorsteps at a later date.

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“This exciting new partnership with Gophr gives our customers the added option of having their large in-store purchases delivered to their homes within a matter of hours. Gophr will also offer on-demand support to our existing fleet of more than 200 vans, beefing up our delivery capacity whenever we need it.

“This provides vital reassurance for our retail and on-trade customers that they will receive exactly what they have ordered from us, exactly when they want it – even during our summer, Christmas and Easter peaks.”

Gophr founder and CEO Seb Robert added: “This partnership with Majestic Wine is a significant one as we continue with our expansion into driver shifts and fleet support services. At Gophr, we are helping businesses, such as Majestic, with resilience, efficiency and peak capacity of their in-house fleet operations.

“It’s a real testament to the work we are doing that a household name such as Majestic, a business that I have long admired, has chosen us to be its delivery partner – especially as we head towards the ‘Summer of Sport’, set to be one of Majestic’s busiest periods of the year.”

Majestic Wine’s new in-store courier delivery options will run alongside its existing offers of same-day click and collect or next-day delivery, for customers ordering online.

It follows the wine retailer partnering with Uber Eats in August last year to offer its expansive range of wines, beers and spirits through the rapid delivery app.