Loblaw and Uber team up on click-and-collect offer

In a bid to increase online grocery sales, Loblaw and the commercial ride-sharing service Uber have teamed up to give shoppers free rides to the three Toronto-area stores that offer the grocer’s click-and-collect service.

The Uber rides to the stores and back home are worth up to $30 and are available from Tuesday until April 20 at the Richmond Hill High Tech, Redway Road and Leslie Street stores.

“We partnered with Loblaw for this promotion to help make grocery shopping even easier,” says Uber Canada spokesperson Susie Heath in Toronto. “A free Uber can make your shopping experience easy and this aligns well with Loblaws' click-and-collect option.”

Loblaw launched its click-and-collect program last October. It includes a website, shop.loblaws.ca, where customers can order groceries. The groceries are picked up at a drive-through and shoppers do not need to get out of their cars to retrieve their items. Instead, they press a button and employees bring the groceries to the vehicle.

BMO analyst Peter Sklar sent a report on Tuesday weighing in on the Uber and Loblaw collaboration. He wrote that it effectively promotes Loblaw's click-and-collect service by targeting a demographic (i.e. Uber subscribers) that is likely to adopt the online grocery service. "We believe there is a high level of commonality between the typical Uber user and Loblaw's Click & Collect user: both are technologically savvy and utilize social media and apps regularly, both are digital early trend adopters, and both value services that help to simplify a busy urban lifestyle," wrote Sklar.

He added that while the promotion could earn the click-and-collect service new customers, it is still in its infancy. "We believe it will be some period of time before e-commerce could potentially have a noticeable positive impact on Loblaw's results," he wrote.

Loblaw did not respond to interview requests by deadline.

For its part, Heath says Uber is encouraged by the support it’s seen so far and anticipates that many Torontonians will take advantage of the promotion with Loblaw.

All click-and-collect shoppers who are new to Uber and use the service to gather their groceries will receive a voucher for $10 off their next click-and-collect purchase from Loblaw. As well, one participant in the promotion will be eligible to win $1,000 in groceries at Loblaw in Toronto.

Uber is increasingly getting involved in click-and-collect ventures. Last week, Uber was the “official transportation partner” at The Click & Collect Show USA in Atlanta, Ga., an event that covered click and collect, in-store pickup and locker strategies.