DELIVERY ON DEMAND

can same-day delivery scale?

Consumers are more demanding than ever, with convenience highly prized after the pandemic years reset expectations for same-day and hyperlocal delivery. Food delivery apps like Just Eat Takeaway went supersonic during those testing times: in the first year of the pandemic, the company saw 700% growth in the UK alone and the consumer appetite for on-demand deliveries has not retreated since, with Just Eat Takeaway now covering almost 80% of the population in its largest markets.

How will speed of delivery develop outside of takeaway and grocery? We caught up with Mark Briganti, Global Post and Parcel Lead, Accenture to ask him his opinions.

This is no longer just about a once-a-week treat of takeaway pizza: consumers today want forgotten ingredients for dinner, last minute gifts and must-have medicines delivered when they want them. Indeed, a survey commissioned by Just Eat Takeaway of 4,000 consumers across Europe found that 80% said they now expected same day or on demand delivery, yet only 15% of retailers can achieve this1.

‘That’s a huge opportunity,’ says Jannie Appelt, VP of Global Logistics – Delco at Just Eat Takeaway.

This sector is crying out for a solution that prioritizes convenience

Jannie Appelt
VP of Global Logistics – Delco,
Just Eat Takeaway

What’s more, the survey found half the respondents are willing to pay more for on-demand delivery and almost 40% said they would be more likely to add an item if they could get on-demand delivery.

‘This sector is crying out for a solution that prioritizes convenience,’ says Appelt.

Just Eat Takeaway is now leveraging its powerful on-demand delivery network for delivery-as-a-service last mile solution for a wide range of retail partners. Increasingly this includes micro-fulfilment too, with couriers able to accept or reject ‘Shop and Pay’ gigs in the app.

The courier goes to the store, gets a shopping list, scans the items, with the app highlighting wrong selections or suggesting substitutions if an item is out of stock – customers can accept this via live chat in the app – and then they pay using a Just Eat Takeaway online card.

For consumers, this provides a welcome service for the one-in-four who struggle to find the right items in store, the one-in-two who find long instore queues frustrating and the one-in-five who find shopping to be a sensory overload.

‘Shop and Pay eliminates these pain points and makes life easier for consumers,’ says Appelt. ‘For our partners, they no longer need to use instore staff to pick and pack, and for our couriers, it’s an opportunity to optimise their earning potential.’

Scaling micro-fulfilment requires a strong team with the right skills, experience and mindset to navigate these evolving trends. Logistics expertise is useful to understand the complexity of last mile delivery but so too are technology skills to find innovative solutions to problems.

Having an existing network is clearly going to offer a competitive advantage for those seeking to turn this emerging trend into a new business line. The key will be whether hyperlocal logistics can scale profitably: expect this to be a hot topic at Leaders in Logistics 2026.

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In partnership with Accenture