Uber and Shippit to deliver ‘fast fashion’ within one hour

Uber is bringing a new, much more positive meaning to the phrase ‘fast fashion’ after announcing a collaboration with Shippit that will see hundreds of major brands deliver goods within one hour.

The new service — a kind of Uber Eats for everything else — counts fashion retailers like CUE, Sephora, Kathmandu, Big W, and Target, as well as Super Retail Group and Harvey Norman among its cohort.

So how will it work? Basically, retailers that use Shippit will soon be able to offer customers an Uber delivery option at the online checkout, with delivery quotes and the estimated time of arrival viewable in their shopping cart, and tracking available via Uber’s real-time GPS.

It doesn’t matter where you are or what time you shop — it’ll be on offer in every Australian state and territory, while customers can checkout and book on-demand deliveries after business hours and on weekends.

Uber Eats ANZ’s Lucas Groeneveld says it’s a “big leap forward for hundreds of Aussie merchants and their customers”, and comes as Uber’s delivery arm outpaced its ride-share offering for the first time this year.

“People who can get milk and groceries in an hour want to get fashion and homewares in the same timeframe too and thanks to this partnership they will be able to instantly access that convenience,” Groeneveld says.

Shippit’s co-CEO Rob Hango-Zada says his logistics company’s collaboration with Uber makes perfect sense considering online shopping has boomed during the pandemic.

“In fact, over the last year we’ve seen a three-fold increase in the number of same-day delivery bookings,” he tells SmartCompany.

“Today we want convenient, reliable and quick access to everything from prescription medicines to appliances and electrical goods.

“Same-hour delivery is no longer a nice-to-have, it’s an essential part of today’s retail experience.”

But Hango-Zada says there’s nothing to worry about for smaller retailers that fear being left behind in this fast-approaching rapid delivery era.

“This is actually a major boon for small businesses too. In just the same way as local restaurants and cafes are able to deliver food to their customers through Uber Eats, small retailers will have the ability to reach their local communities through this partnership too.”

“Our goal is to enable retailers of all shapes and sizes — from big-box chains to family-run stores — to exceed the needs of their customers.”

It comes as global heavyweights are elbowing their way into the market, with Amazon, and Doordash hitting our shores, while the battle between local delivery services Menulog, Deliveroo and Australia Post and new guys Milkrun, Voly and Send intensifies.

Google’s parent company Alphabet’s drone delivery company Wing last week announced a pilot program to deliver groceries in Canberra via drones within minutes, following Wing’s fast food delivery offering in suburbs of Canberra and south-east Queensland.

Experts forecast a rapid acceleration of delivery in the next five years, according to McKinsey’s the Future of Delivery Report 2022, with Asia Pacific coming in as the biggest regional parcel market (by value).

The Asia-Pacific accounts for some 42% of the global market — worth more than $650 billion as of 2020.