Former Sainsbury’s boss King backs Snappy Group delivery start-up

King has been named as a senior adviser to Snappy Group, the Scottish firm that owns Snappy Shopper, a tech platform allowing customers to order home deliveries or click and collect from local corner stores in 30 minutes or less. 

Snappy Group is currently in the process of raising money from investors and said it expected King to formally join its non-executive board once the fundraising round is complete. 

The Dundee-based start-up, which was founded by Mike Callachan, Alan Reid and Scott Campbell in 2017, has benefited from the growth of such services during the pandemic, with retail partners swelling to 1,150 and more than 700,000 customers using the platform across the UK. 

Unlike other brands such as Deliveroo and Uber Eats, which have also partnered with local stores to offer home delivery during the pandemic, Snappy Shopper doesn’t fulfil orders, instead offering partners the technology to take orders online.

As a result the commission fee charged by the group to customers – just £3 per customer per order on average – is “considerably lower” than those of competitors.  

Snappy Group says its mission is to “democratise ecommerce technology by providing an affordable solution to local businesses, enabling them to compete in the fast-growing home delivery market”.

Numerous convenience store and corner shop retailers, including the Co-op, Nisa and Spar, have signed up with the platform, which drove gross merchandise volumes for the app to more than £100m last year. 

King said: “I have been hugely impressed by Snappy Group’s affordable solution, leadership team and rapid growth. The company is championing the needs of businesses in their local community.

“Its proprietary technology provides local businesses with an affordable delivery solution, which enables them to compete in this fast-changing market segment. This not only caters to the trend for top-up shopping but also an increasing desire by consumers to access and support local enterprises.   

“This is an exciting and pivotal time for the business and I believe that I will be able to add significant value. I look forward to working with the management team as the business continues its expansion and grows its market share further within the thriving UK convenience market and beyond.”

King was chief executive of Sainsbury’s between 2004 and 2014. Prior to joining the grocery giant, he was head of food at Marks & Spencer and is currently a member of the Public Interest Body of PwC.

Figures from Pitchbook found that, since the start of the pandemic, grocery delivery start-ups have raised more than £757m in capital funding, with each new entrant trying to outdo competitors on delivery speed and price. 

UK-based entrants into this busy market include the likes of Weezy and Zapp, which is still currently in stealth mode. Competitors entering into the UK market from Europe include Turkish start-up Getir and Berlin-based Gorillas, which said it became “Europe’s fastest-ever unicorn” (meaning a valuation of $1bn or more) last year. 

Established grocers, including Sainsbury’s and Ocado, are also looking to compete and expand into this market, offering half-hour grocery deliveries through Chop Chop and Zoom respectively.