Is Sainsbury Following Uber’s Lead?

A couple of weeks ago, we told you about Uber’s new program using e-bikes to make deliveries for Uber Eats. 

Now, Sainsbury's has launched the first U.K. trial of e-bikes for grocery deliveries, with a fleet of five electric cargo bikes hitting the streets of London. Customers in a 3-mile radius of the Sainsbury's store in Streatham, South London, ordering less than 275 pounds of grocery are eligible for bike delivery. 

According to Sainsbury's, the five bikes will be able to deliver up to 100 orders a day by making use of city cycle lanes to avoid traffic during peak times. They will also be able to park closer to customers' homes than is often possible for traditional delivery vans.  This effort also focuses in on what has become a major concern for grocers, “the last mile.” 

Certainly for Uber Eats, Sainsbury’s and other grocers who operate in traffic congested cities like New York City, Chicago, San Francisco and the like, using these e-bikes make a lot of sense and could dramatically shorten the now standard two-hour window for grocery deliveries to, say, 30 minutes? Or, at least, 60 minutes, which would open the floodgates for those overbooked families who have resisted home delivery simply because they do not have a two-hour window available.

Related:What Took Uber So Long to Add Ratings to Uber Eats?