Boots and Uber Eats team up to deliver OTC medicines from 14 branches
Boots and delivery app Uber Eats have launched a pilot partnership that will see 14 of the multiple’s branches using the take-away platform to deliver over-the-counter (OTC) medicines and beauty products.
Customers within range of the participating branches will be able to receive their deliveries in as little as 30 minutes of placing an order, Boots said in a statement today (October 14).
More than 900 products will be available to Boots customers using the Uber Eats app in the selected areas. These include medicines for coughs, colds, hay fever, mild pain, and rashes, COVID-19 test kits, beauty products, and food and drink options.
The participating stores are located across the UK, and include Boots branches in Oxford Street, Sedley Place in London, Market Street in Manchester, and Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow.
“Delivered in minutes”
Boots chief digital officer Paula Bobbett said that “as the first health and beauty retailer” on Uber Eats, Boots can offer “an extensive range of product options to customers for delivery straight to their door”.
“Whether it’s medicines for mild illnesses or last-minute gifts, beauty items or top-ups of a favourite skincare brand, we can meet all our customers’ needs both quickly and conveniently,” she added.
Uber Eats UK head of commerce Alex Troughton said: “As customers are increasingly using Uber Eats to get anything, this partnership will mean high quality health and beauty products delivered in minutes.”
In August, one year after launching its pilot partnership with delivery app Deliveroo across 14 branches, Boots announced it was extending the scheme to a further 111 of its premises.
Read more: Lloydspharmacy extends rapid Deliveroo deliveries to 110 UK branches
It follows an incident in June, which saw a Deliveroo driver sharing a video on social media in which they dropped off an open paper bag from Boots containing the OTC thrush treatment Canesten and mocking the patient before handing the product over.
Boots told C+D at the time that it was “appalled to learn” of the incident and that it had launched an investigation with Deliveroo to understand what had happened.
The multiple’s review of the incident determined that staff had sealed the bag before it was dispatched to the customer, a spokesperson subsequently clarified to C+D.
Having reviewed the case, the General Pharmaceutical Council told C+D in August that it was not “necessary to undertake a formal investigation into fitness to practise”, as it believed the multiple had taken appropriate steps to lower the risk of a similar situation repeating itself in the future.
