Bunnings extends same-day delivery service to regional stores with Uber Direct

Hardware giant Bunnings is using Uber Direct to introduce same-day parcel delivery from selected regional stores across Australia just in time for Christmas and the holiday season.

Bunnings is extending its same-day delivery service to a number of regional stores across Australia. Picture: NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

Hardware giant Bunnings is using ride sharing firm Uber’s delivery arm, Uber Direct, to introduce same-day parcel delivery from selected regional stores across Australia just in time for Christmas and the holiday season.

The move by Wesfarmers-owned Bunnings comes as retailers step up the race to promise shoppers the quickest delivery times available.

Under the new deal, Uber Direct will deliver from more than 63 regional Bunnings stores, for parcel-sized orders placed on the Bunnings website. Uber is also the official same-day parcel delivery carrier for 45 metropolitan Bunnings stores already offering the service.

In the first phase of the partnership, Bunnings customers who place their order online by 2pm will receive their delivery by 7pm that day across more than 100 stores in every state and territory.

“I think when you think about what customers are starting to come to expect in the market, that same-day delivery offer is the reason why we partnered up with Uber to be able to do that offering for our customers,” Bunnings chief operating officer Ryan Baker told The Australian.

“They can order by 2pm and have it delivered to their house by 7pm, so I think it gives customers that opportunity to get any of those items that maybe they didn’t necessarily have the plan to purchase, and they can have it delivered straight to their house.

“And it’s already resonating very strongly from only a short period of time that we’ve been in play (with Uber).

“This builds on our current same-day parcel delivery offering across metro Australia, bringing more convenience to our regional customers, and hopefully helping to ease some of the stress this time of year can bring.”

Under the delivery deal with Uber, deliveries in both regional and metropolitan areas across Australia will incur a $15 fee. The delivery address must be within a 15km radius of the store to qualify for the same-day promise.

Turning to the Christmas trading period, Mr Baker said the recent heatwave across Australia and generally warmer weather conditions were helping sales of key outdoor categories such as furniture, shade and BBQ accessories.

“The weather is on our side at the moment,” he said.

“Anything to do with that entertaining side, all of our outdoor furniture, barbecues, barbecue accessories, and it’s very warm this Christmas this year so anything to do with shade, gazebos, umbrellas, all of those types of things go very well for us at this time of year.

“And then on the flip side, you’ve got all the gift types of items, power tools and tools for garden, eskies and hand tools, all those areas are really strong from a gift side as well.”

Mr Baker said transactions were up this Christmas season, with plenty of customers in the stores, and the hardware retailer’s promise of ‘every day lowest price’ was resonating with customers.

“The construction market still being tight has been challenging, and that’s been something I know that we’ve reported along the way, but we’re seeing plenty of customers, we’re seeing transactions up so if you think about our model and that really price-conscious customer and that ‘every day, lowest price’, that is really resonating for customers and the fact that we just give that every day is really helping us.”

Originally published as Bunnings extends same-day delivery service to regional stores with Uber Direct