Kathmandu has Uber idea on delivery of product

Kathmandu will become the first fashion retailer to piggyback off Uber’s network of drivers in Australia to help deliver orders.

Kathmandu will be the first apparel brand to offer an Uber delivery service in Australia. Picture: AAP

Outdoor and adventurewear retailer Kathmandu will become the first fashion retailer to piggyback off Uber’s network of drivers in Australia to help deliver orders, as the rush to online shopping trigg­ered by the coronavirus pandemic overwhelms logistics providers and slows down delivery times.

Kathmandu will be the first apparel brand to offer an Uber delivery service in Australia when the trial is launched later this month.

Initially, consumers shopping at Kathmandu and placing orders won’t be able to select Uber delivery as an option, rather the system will choose the most direct delivery option for them.

Customers will then be notified post-purchase of how their goods will be delivered.

From the end of May, consumers will be able to select Uber as a same-day delivery option with the service at no additional costs to the consumer.

Other big-name retailers in Australia have partnered with Uber recently. Supermarket retailer Coles has partnered with Uber Eats and Woolworths is using Uber to expand the spread of online orders and deliveries it can fulfil.

But this is the first time Uber will help a fashion retailer deliver its products to customers.

Rueben Casey, chief executive for Kathmandu’s outdoor apparel businesses, told The Australian the use of Uber’s drivers would help quicken the retailer’s delivery times.

“What we hope is that it provides another option for getting product to our customers as quickly as we can,” Mr Casey said.

“Transport networks are becoming pretty stretched, which has seen us have some delays of deliveries for customers and we were looking around for how else we can do this … Uber has a large pool of drivers that can help us get product to customers and it also means we make use of our store teams as well and DC teams to better service our customers.”

The partnership with Uber is also a long-term strategy, Kathmandu said, addressing the predicted changes in consumer behaviour following COVID-19, including potentially less foot traffic in stores, expectations around contactless service and a boom in online sales.

“It makes a lot of sense for us to use Uber,” Mr Casey said.

Earlier this week Kathmandu revealed in a trading update that its online sales had been surging in April, rising 2.5 to three times the normal traffic as consumers shopped from home and ordered online.