Like DoorDash, Uber Technologies is diving headfirst into grocery delivery. The company is buying 100% of the Latin American grocery delivery service Cornershop and is expanding grocery delivery to 400 cities across the country through a partnership with Albertsons.
Uber has been transitioning away from being exclusively a ride-sharing service. In 2019, the company purchased a majority stake in Cornershop, a grocery delivery company based in Chile. Last year, Uber announced its intentions to enter the grocery delivery space with pilot projects in Miami and Dallas. A few months later, Uber reached an agreement with Southeastern Grocers to deliver groceries from Winn-Dixie and Fresco y Más brands in Florida through Cornershop.
“Grocery delivery is a priority we’re pursuing at Uber-speed across the country, and in partnership with SEG, Floridians can now turn to the Uber app to get the things they need from the supermarkets they know and love,” said Raj Beri, global head of grocery at Uber at the time.
Uber expanded the pilot project to New York City when it began delivering groceries for stores affiliated with the Red Apple Group.
Now, Uber has announced that will purchase the rest of Cornershop and begin grocery delivery in San Francisco, New York City, Washington DC. and other major markets through Albertsons and its affiliated brands. The move marks a further push by Uber into food delivery.
“We’re excited to deepen our commitment to the team at Cornershop and to support their vision as they scale globally,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said. “Together, we will double down on the strategy of bringing same-day grocery delivery to the Uber platform worldwide.”
Albertsons Companies includes Albertsons, Safeway, Jewel-Osco, ACME, Tom Thumb and Randalls. The company is ranked as the eighth largest grocery store chain in the United States with 2277 stores.
“This past year has been one of incredible growth for grocery delivery,” Beri said. “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.”
Uber has also been delivering groceries through an agreement with mico-fulfillment company Gopuff. Gopuff specializes in convenience store items and customers can order Gopuff products through the Uber app. and Uber website. The agreement applies to 650 cities and 250 micro-fulfillment centers.
Grocery delivery has been dominated by Instacart, which is signaling plans for an IPO this year. Instacart does both the shopping and the delivery but could see more competition with Uber and DoorDash entering the grocery delivery market. DoorDash reached an agreement for grocery delivery with Albertsons last month.
