Delivering alternatives

Abstract

Ways to reduce travel for food shopping are receiving increasing political attention. This paper explores the current experience of providing home delivery services for groceries, which would release shoppers from carrying what they buy. It has involved a study of 58 companies, operating in 9 countries, encompassing a range of different types of scheme, based on both simple and complex technologies, and provided for numerous different reasons. It explores the practical and economic dimensions of providing services, predictions of likely future patronage, and the factors that may be conducive to successfully introducing new initiatives.