Meals on heels

Co-op brings back grocery deliveries on foot

THE Co-op is to stroll back the years and deliver customers’ shopping on foot.

After a trial in Cornwall, the old-fashioned service will be offered in 200 stores to shoppers who live within 15 minutes’ walking distance.

The walking deliveries will be rolled out this year to smaller villages and rural areas not served by rapid delivery firms, the Co-op said.

Shoppers will order online for same-day delivery. The groceries will be packed into special trollies to be on their doorsteps within two hours.

Delivery fees will range from 90p to £1.99 and there will be a minimum order of £15.

The combination of old fashioned and modern deliveries are part of the Co-op’s plans to increase its online business by 50% to £300million this year.

Chris Conway, the Co-op’s e-commerce director, said: “Making shopping quick, easy and convenient for our members and customers is at the very heart of our approach.

“We continue to innovate to meet the needs of consumers.”

While the Co-op is adding a personal service for out-oftown shoppers, customers in urban areas will see more robots bringing the groceries.

The autonomous electric Starship Technologies robots will now operate in Cambridge, as well as Milton Keynes, Beds, where they are already familiar.

Rival chain Tesco is under pressure to bring back the human touch, with 100,000 signing a petition calling for more manned checkouts.

It was started by Pat McCarthy, 69, of Brentford, West London, who said self-service shopping was “physically difficult and overwhelming”.