But are apps that deliver from the shop floor to your front door in minutes just a pandemic-era fad or are they here to stay? Have you ever been in a situation where you needed something delivered right away? A toothbrush you forgot on a trip? Or butter for a recipe you've already started preparing? There are many apps for that – a whole fleet of them – that are now competing for your dwindling time. They promise to get everyday items to you, sometimes in 10 minutes or less. But, is it just a pandemic-era trend, or does it have staying power?
The BBC’s Victoria Craig speaks to the boss of eight-year old US-based super-fast delivery company, GoPuff. Yakir Gola started the business while at university and has grown it to become a dominant player in the American market. He talks about why the company has decided to expand in the UK, and how it plans to compete in a red-hot space. Plus, we hear from Adrian Maccelari, the director at London-based bakery Sally Clarke about whether partnering with super-fast delivery start-ups has been helpful to the business, and Elodie Perthuisot, the director of data and e-commerce at grocery chain Carrefour, explains how the model has been a game changer for the supermarket business.
There has been blockbuster growth in the super-fast delivery category over the past two years, which leads Bain and Company’s Ruth Lewis to think consolidation is an inevitability. A number of start-ups have entered the space, and already, the industry has seen some high profile mergers and acquisitions.