Albertsons, Uber Team Up in Grocery Delivery Battle
Uber is taking the next step in its plan to dominate the U.S. grocery delivery space by teaming up with the Albertsons Companies.
Uber Technologies Inc. announced that it plans to more than double the availability of its grocery delivery service in the United States this year via a 1,200-store partnership with the Albertsons Cos. This marks Uber’s first major grocery expansion in the United States since it launched grocery delivery last year.
“This past year has been one of incredible growth for grocery delivery,” Raj Beri, Uber’s global head of grocery and new verticals. “Today nearly 3 million consumers order groceries and other essentials each month through Uber and we’re just getting started. By adding thousands of beloved grocers to our selection this year, we are fast-tracking our efforts to help Americans get everything they need from their favorite supermarket, delivered to their doorsteps.”
The deal also marks the next evolution of Albertsons' grocery delivery strategy. In January, Albertsons said it is moving away from doing its own grocery delivery in Southern California and toward using third-party delivery services.
Last month, Albertsons announced a deal with DoorDash to offer on-demand grocery delivery from nearly 2,000 Albertsons stores. The companies said the partnership includes a new custom loyalty program, expanded delivery hours, a meal kit offering, prepared meals and specialty items.
Uber says it has seen consistent growth in the United States for its grocery category since launching grocery delivery in July 2020. The company says it has added major U.S. metro areas such as Miami, Dallas and Phoenix, to its delivery network, with more to come throughout 2021. Now, Albertsons banners such as Safeway, Jewel-Osco, Acme, Tom Thumb, Randalls, Albertsons and more are joining Southeastern Grocers and New York’s Red Apple Group on the Uber platform, available to consumers within the Uber and Uber Eats apps.
In May, Uber announced it was partnering with instant needs delivery startup Gopuff to offer delivery of everyday essential products to customers in 95 cities around the country. The exclusive partnership with Gopuff – Uber’s first partnership with a vertically integrated delivery business – follows Uber’s acquisitions of food and beverage delivery services Postmates, Drizly and Cornershop.
Last year, the company partnered with Santiago, Chile-based Cornershop, a company it agreed to acquire in 2019, to launch the delivery service in Latin American and Canadian cities. Additionally, Uber announced last month it was acquiring the remaining 47% interest in Cornershop that it didn’t already own in an all-stock transaction.
Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons operates 2,277 retail stores with 1,725 pharmacies, 400 associated fuel centers, 22 dedicated distribution centers and 20 manufacturing facilities. The company’s stores predominantly operate under the Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Pavilions, Randalls, Tom Thumb, Carrs, Jewel-Osco, Acme, Shaw’s, Star Market, United Supermarkets, Kings Food Markets and Haggen banners. Albertsons is No. 8 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2021 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.
