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Deliveroo is nominated for Grocer of the Year<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0at this year\u2019s\u00a0RG Excellence Awards<\/strong>, Suzy McClintock, VP of new verticals, explains why shoppers are using rapid grocery delivery for more than emergency top-ups.<\/p>\n When Deliveroo first moved into grocery, the quick-commerce conversation was often framed around speed. How fast could a basket reach a customer\u2019s door, and how many emergencies could the model solve?<\/p>\n McClintock says the bigger shift is not simply about shaving minutes off fulfilment, it is about recognising that grocery shopping no longer revolves around one predictable weekly shop.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople don\u2019t shop in channels. They shop in missions,\u201d she explains. \u201cNobody wakes up and explicitly decides to be an online grocery customer. They simply choose the channel that is most convenient and aligned with their needs.\u201d<\/p>\n Those missions vary widely. One customer may need dinner sorted on a Tuesday evening, another may be topping up before the weekend, replacing a forgotten ingredient, or buying a last-minute gift on the way to a friend\u2019s house. In each case, the basket size, urgency and expectation are different.<\/p>\n This plays into a longer-term grocery trend that predates the rise of on-demand apps, according to McClintock.<\/p>\n Smaller households, less advance meal planning and a greater focus on buying fresh food closer to the point of consumption have all helped to loosen the grip of the traditional big weekly shop.<\/p>\n \u201cThe single big weekly stock-up has been quietly unbundling into several smaller shops for a long time,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n That is where Deliveroo\u2019s model fits naturally: \u201cA model built to deliver a big fortnightly shop in a two-hour slot serves a small midweek top-up badly. A model built around stores close to where people live serves it well.\u201d<\/p>\n While the earliest phase of rapid grocery was concentrated in dense urban areas, Deliveroo is now focused on expanding the proposition beyond major city centres.<\/p>\n \u201cMany parts of the country still can\u2019t get a grocery order in under an hour, but that gap is closing fast,\u201d reveals McClintock.<\/p>\n Over the past year, Deliveroo has brought Tesco onto the platform and expanded coverage and range with Co-op, Asda, Waitrose and Boots. It is also preparing to launch a trial with Aldi next month.<\/p>\n McClintock explains: \u201cEvery store we connect to opens up a catchment that had no on-demand option at all.\u201d<\/p>\n However, serving customers outside city centres requires a slightly different playbook. In market towns and less dense areas, the question is less about being the fastest possible service and more about giving shoppers enough choice to complete a meaningful basket.<\/p>\n \u201cOutside city centres, what makes it work is range rather than speed,\u201d she notes. \u201cIf a customer can do a proper shop with us instead of a top-up, everything else follows.\u201d<\/p>\n That is why features such as multi-store ordering and deeper product selection are becoming increasingly important. The same fulfilment model that works for a forgotten ingredient in central London may need to support a fuller grocery mission elsewhere.<\/p>\n McClintock stresses that Deliveroo cannot simply tell shoppers that on-demand grocery offers the same quality and value as a traditional supermarket shop. It has to prove it order by order. \u201cYou don\u2019t convince them, you show them,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n That means getting the operational details right. This could br fruit arriving in good condition, chilled items staying cold and substitutions making sense for the customer. \u201d McClintock adds: \u201cQuality in grocery is unglamorous and specific. Delivering on those details is what earns us repeat orders.\u201d<\/p>\n Value has also become a bigger part of the equation as shoppers scrutinise every spend. Deliveroo has integrated Nectar and Clubcard into its app so customers can collect points and access member pricing as they would in store.<\/p>\n Alongside Deliveroo Plus, its own loyalty programme, McClintock argues this helps reposition rapid grocery as an everyday service rather than an occasional premium.<\/p>\n \u201cCustomers are more intentional than they were a couple of years ago,\u201d she notes. \u201cThey expect every decision to work harder. Integrating Nectar and Clubcard into our app means they collect points and get member pricing exactly as they would in store.\u201d<\/p>\n McClintock says the relationship with grocery partners is increasingly shaped by data, range planning and customer behaviour.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve gone from being a delivery channel to being a key part of how our partners understand a rapidly changing market,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n One example is Bundles, which allows customers to shop across up to three retailers in a single basket for one delivery fee. The feature was designed after Deliveroo noticed customers abandoning a whole shop when one essential item was unavailable.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople were dropping a whole shop over one unavailable item, often something non-negotiable like a particular milk for a dietary need,\u201d McClintock says. \u201cSo we made it possible to finish the shop elsewhere on the platform.\u201d<\/p>\n The result is a more strategic conversation with partners. Retailers can see what customers are searching for, how demand moves throughout the day and which ranges travel well.\u00a0 She stresses: \u201cThe conversation used to be about delivery times, now it\u2019s about range and pricing.\u201d<\/p>\n As Deliveroo pushes further into grocery and other new verticals, McClintock sees the company\u2019s role as connecting more local commerce to online demand rather than replacing the high street with distant fulfilment infrastructure.<\/p>\n She says: \u201cWe are ultimately building the world\u2019s leading local commerce platform, helping local businesses of all sizes to grow and compete in an increasingly online and AI-driven world and supporting local jobs and businesses on the high street.\u201d<\/p>\n The advantage of Deliveroo\u2019s model is that spend remains anchored in existing local shops and restaurants.<\/p>\n McClintock concludes: \u201cThe stores are already there, the customers are already nearby, and our network connects them together for seamless online deliveries. We\u2019re laser focused on creating a better connected high street, one insight at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n Deliveroo joins Asda, Lidl and Morrisons in the Grocer of the Year category at this year\u2019s\u00a0RG Excellence Awards.<\/strong>\u00a0See the full shortlist, and all categories\u00a0here. This year\u2019s\u00a0RG Excellence Awards<\/strong>\u00a0will be hosted at the Underglobe on 14 October 2026.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\nA convenient channel<\/h6>\n
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Delivering for consumers<\/h6>\n
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\n<\/picture>A local commerce platform<\/h6>\n