Asda trials unattended food delivery system for post-lockdown world

The entrance of an ASDA supermarket in London, Friday, March 26, 2021. More than 40,000 store workers at Asda, Britain's third-largest supermarket chain, can proceed with their longstanding claim for equal pay following a ruling from the country's Supreme Court. The workers, around two-thirds of whom are women, first brought their sex discrimination claim in 2014. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)
Asda is trialling two box sizes to allow delivery of up to four or six totes of shopping - depending on household size. Photo: AP Photo/Frank Augstein

In a post-COVID world, the option for home grocery deliveries while you're out could be the next move by supermarkets.

Asda has begun a small trial of unattended delivery boxes intended to make grocery drop offs convenient.

The trial allows shopping to be delivered within a four-hour delivery window whilst a customer is out, with a small number of Asda.com shoppers currently testing the service and providing feedback.

The boxes are fixed outside customers’ homes and can be used for a "regular" shop, including chilled and frozen items.

Drivers enter a code that allows them access to the box to make a single delivery, before locking it securely until the customer arrives home.

The delivery boxes would allow delivery of up to four or six totes of shopping - depending on household size. Photo: Asda
The delivery boxes would allow delivery of up to four or six totes of shopping - depending on household size. Photo: Asda

Asda is trialling two box sizes to allow delivery of up to four or six totes of shopping - depending on household size.

The trial is focused on a few locations in Yorkshire, the North East, Wales and the South.

The retailer has advised customers to remove chilled and frozen items from the box after four hours from the point of drop off.

Insulating materials are used to maintain the correct product temperature when shopping is placed in the box and ensure items are unaffected by hot or cold weather.

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The service is open to customers using the Asda Delivery Pass, which costs £6 ($8) a month for deliveries anytime of day and week.

There is currently no extra charge for unattended delivery but this may change if the trial is successful.

"As things begin to open up again, the boxes provide a convenient way for customers involved in the trial to take delivery of their regular shop while they are not at home.”

A spokesperson for Asda said the boxes would be hard to steal as they are fixed into place.

Simon Gregg, VP of Online Grocery at Asda, said: “We are pleased to be trialling an unattended delivery service as we continue to innovate and learn from new initiatives to help enhance our grocery home shopping offer."

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