Deliveroo believes its retail expansion into pet food, health and beauty products, and even fashion items will “pay dividends in years to come”.
Deliveroo’s chief executive says the business “continues to be amazed” by the consumer take-up of quick grocery retail delivery, which helped fuel 9% growth in the UK during the last quarter of 2024.
Gross transaction value for the UK in the final quarter of 2024 was £1.2bn, up 9% from the same period in 2023. The UK represents the majority of revenue for Deliveroo, with gross transaction value across the whole group hitting £1.97bn for the final three months of the year – up 6% versus 2024 levels.
Deliveroo is still primarily known as a fast-food delivery brand, but has been expanding its presence in the rapid grocery delivery service. Grocery is “driving significant growth for the overall company”, CEO and founder Will Shu told investors today (16 January).
Across the retail industry, there are broad shifts towards “faster delivery, smaller baskets”, he said, something Deliveroo has been able to tap into to fuel its own growth. During investor questions, Shu was asked about the strong growth at Ocado and what this said about the growth of grocery overall. However, Shu said he was focused on Deliveroo’s own trajectory.
“We’re just continuing to execute on what we’re doing, the growth is really good,” he said. “I just think you do have the secular shift to more convenience. The 30 to 60 minute window, smaller or mid-size baskets, and here we’re seeing that around the world, right. So, I just think that trend is going to continue and we’re really well positioned there.”
Deliveroo talks up ‘reinforced value’ in bid to become subscription first business
Grocery deliveries have been a source of growth for Deliveroo for some years now. A relatively new addition to its proposition is offering quick-delivery from other retail sectors. In particular, the business has focused on DIY (working with the likes of B&Q), pet food, and healthy and beauty.
While there has been no “big bang” contribution from the segment yet, Deliveroo continues to expand this offering, for example into fashion partnering with rental brand Hurr and accessory retailer Accessorize. Shu credited the team with doing a “great job” in 2024 building awareness of the expanding proposition and growing number of partners.
“We’re building great momentum in that retail segment that’s going to pay dividends in years to come,” he said.
Another element of Deliveroo’s future plans flagged by Shu is loyalty subscription programme ‘Plus’. First launched in 2017, the brand has ambitions to be a ‘Plus first’ business by 2026.
Deliveroo relaunched the scheme last year with a revamped Plus Gold and new tier Plus Diamond. The business said it was seeing some good results from the relaunched scheme, both in terms of driving frequency from subscribers and from converting free trial participants to paid members.
An underlying theme in many of Deliveroo’s investor calls in recent times has been driving value perceptions. The brand’s CFO Scilla Grimble emphasised the importance of value “both to [Deliveroo’s] growth and to the broader growth of the sector”.
