Fuel/convenience retailer launches global delivery initiative

BP is expanding existing local delivery arrangements with a major online delivery platform.

The company is partnering with Uber Eats on a global level, and aims to have more than 3,000 retail locations available on the delivery platform over the next three years. The new partnership covers retail sites on the West Coast of the U.S., as well as in Australia, New Zealand, Poland, and South Africa.

BP sites in the U.K. and eastern U.S. will be added to the Uber Eats app for the first time this year, with plans to launch in other European markets beginning in 2023. As part of the agreement, Uber Eats and BP will work to introduce delivery options onto BP’s own app, BPme, initially planned to be available in the U.S., U.K. and Australia by the end of 2023, supported by Uber Direct.

This new offer will allow BP to directly connect its customers to Uber Eats delivery drivers via the Uber Direct platform. Since 2019, BP says it has seen a three-fold increase in users of the BPme app, with 16 million active loyalty users worldwide.

[Read more: Uber expands delivery beyond food and grocery]

BP stores will offer a range of products for delivery that are tailored to local markets. These may include hot and cold drinks and food-for-now options, as well as staple groceries, fresh produce, ready meals, wine, beer, and flowers. In the U.S., the offer to provide online delivery via Uber Eats will be made available to BP’s network of independently-owned retail locations.

According to BP, it will benefit from Uber’s global brand and operations footprint, technology for dispatching orders, and more than 4.4 million drivers and couriers on the platform worldwide.

BP currently offers online delivery in 10 markets with a variety of partners. Since launching the first of these services in 2019 in Australia, its delivery footprint has grown to more than 1,000 sites worldwide. The company’s retail sites include BP-branded sites and others owned or licensed by the company, such as ampm in the U.S.

BP and Uber already work together, with BP providing electric vehicle charging for Uber’s ride-hail drivers. The companies will explore other areas for future cooperation in convenience, including opportunities to utilize low-carbon delivery methods to fulfill orders from BP sites.

“We’re thrilled to team up with Uber Eats globally giving us the opportunity to reach many more consumers online, in addition to those who currently visit our retail sites,” said Emma Delaney, executive VP customers & products, BP. “We’ve seen how the pandemic has accelerated customer demand for delivered convenience, and this partnership will allow us to scale up quickly on the Uber platform.”

“With more than 20,500 locations around the world, bp’s reach is enormous—making them critical partners as we pursue our ambitions of helping consumers across the world get what they need delivered to their doorsteps,” said Pierre Dimitri Gore-Coty, Uber senior VP of global delivery. “We are proud to support this next phase of the company’s convenience growth through this delivery partnership and look forward to deeper collaboration in the future.”