According to reports, Uber announced today that it has expanded its partnership with French retailer Carrefour and launched a new non-staple food delivery service in Paris, which can deliver groceries to your door as quickly as 15 minutes. The service is called “Carrefour Sprint” and will be launched through Uber’s food delivery app “Uber Eats” starting today.
The service does not need to send couriers to Carrefour stores, but relies on the “dark shop” network operated by French start-up Cajoo. “Dark shops” are small warehouses where pickers and packers prepare delivery orders. Earlier this year, Carrefour acquired a minority stake in Cajoo.
Driven by the new crown pneumonia epidemic and venture capital, grocery delivery startups have recently sprung up all over Europe. In Paris, Uber’s competitors for this service include Getir, Gorillas, British Zapp, and Russian technology giant Yandex.
In the past year, Uber has been deeply cultivating the food and grocery takeaway market because the new crown pneumonia epidemic has led to a sharp decline in demand for its online car-hailing business.
Uber said today that its new partnership with Carrefour will allow users to order nearly 2,000 daily necessities, including fruits and vegetables, dry goods and cleaning supplies.
Earlier this year, Uber and Carrefour have already collaborated to allow users to order groceries online from nearly 2,000 stores. Uber also said today that in the next few weeks, the new service Carrefour Sprint will also expand to other cities such as Lyon, Bordeaux and Toulouse.