The Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD) has just set out the current state of quick commerce/grocery delivery in the UK, using shopper analysis and more to give a better picture of the industry’s response to shoppers’ views to and to highlight barriers and opportunities present in quick commerce.
Its report on global online trends published at the end of May predicted the channel would be the fastest-growing globally, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6% between 2024 and 2029.
In the UK, its latest grocery channel forecasts predict that online will also be the fastest growing channel between 2025 and 2030, with a CAGR of 4.3%.
Quick commerce in the UK is evolving quickly and the IGD says it expects this to continue. It has now outlined shoppers’ expectations for the sub-channel and how retailers are responding.
When the IGD last spoke to shoppers in November, ‘food for now’ emerged as the main shopping mission fulfilled by quick commerce, with 69% of shoppers using the sub-channel in this way.
The most popular reasons for shoppers continuing to use quick commerce are its convenience, speed and ease of use. However, it noted that there are now several barriers to overcome.
The first is the service’s higher costs, with the majority of shoppers considering pulling back from using quick commerce to cut back on their spending. The second hurdle is the limited product range available on most quick commerce services. The first half of 2025 has seen several developments from retailers and aggregators to address these concerns, while also enhancing the speed and convenience shoppers prize.
Whilst quick commerce, with its associated delivery and service fees, means it is unlikely to ever achieve price parity with purchases made in stores, retailers and delivery aggregators are looking to provide value in other ways.
This has been most obvious with the opening up of loyalty schemes to purchases made via quick commerce aggregators, exemplified by Co-op and others’ partnership with firms such as Deliveroo.
Product ranges at some retailers are growing as the fulfilment of quick commerce orders is rolled out to larger stores. Tesco, which already fulfils quick commerce orders from around 1,400 of its Express convenience stores, is now picking orders from around 100 of its large format stores, increasing choice from 2,500 to 15,000 products.
The Co-op has also begun trials of extended operating hours, and since last November, it’s been operating 24-hour deliveries in London, Leeds and Manchester via Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats. It also extended delivery hours to later in the evening for 1,600 of its stores, bringing the service closer in line with store opening hours.
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