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Harris Farm delivers grocery goodness with Uber Eats and Uber Direct

August 14, 2024 | Australia

In 1971, David and Cathy Harris first opened Harris Farm Market in Villawood, Australia. They didn't just start selling fresh fruit and vegetables—they planted the seeds for a sustainable grocery revolution. From championing green initiatives like Imperfect Picks to showing love for local farmers and producers, Harris Farm believes that its actions can make a positive difference.

For over 50 years, the Harris family has been steadfast in their commitment to “greater goodness.” But without the right partners to get that goodness to customers quickly and conveniently, their produce—and their vision—risk wilting on the vine. We spoke with Mitch Grave, Marketing and E-commerce Manager, to learn how Uber Eats and Uber Direct help Harris Farm deliver nature’s best to its customers, just like David and Cathy envisioned.

Harris Farm, by the numbers

locations and growing

orders delivered with Uber every week

lower average cost of delivery per order with Uber Direct

From farm to table: delivering greater convenience to customers

For added convenience, Harris Farm began offering online orders for delivery through its website in 2014. It was business as usual for a few years, until 2020, when everything changed. In Grave’s words, “Online orders went through the roof with covid, pretty much 10x in the space of a few weeks.” Managing the increased order volume profitably was a challenge. At the time, Harris Farm was using a centralized warehouse and a third-party delivery partner that could only offer same-day or next-day delivery. But this was inefficient and costly given the high order volume and broad distribution areas. “Off the back of strong growth and expansion through COVID, things we’re beginning to settle, and we asked ourselves, ‘How do we ensure that online continues to remain convenient & profitable?” Grave says. “That’s when we started looking at a decentralized store-based distribution model, which allows us to ship orders directly from each store location.” To achieve this, Harris Farm built its own pick-and-pack app for its team. Then, 18 months ago, the grocer turned to Uber Direct to help improve its local delivery capabilities.

Fast, fresh, easy on the wallet: better delivery prices and efficiency with Uber Direct

The benefits of Uber Direct were immediate. Harris Farm offered a better service and reduced delivery costs significantly. It increased the speed of delivery from same-day or overnight to within 2 hours. As if that weren’t enough, the company also reduced the cost of packaging by an average of $3 an order. Since the order times were much faster, that reduced the need for cold or extra packaging for orders being trucked a long distance from a central hub. These combined savings allowed Harris Farm to lower its delivery costs and pass the savings directly to customers. With Uber Direct, Harris Farm can now offer a faster service without the usual need to increase delivery fees.

“We chose Uber Direct to improve the customer experience and reduce order delivery costs. Right off the bat, we went from same-day delivery to delivery in just 2 hours, and we reduced our average cost per delivery significantly.”



— Mitch Grave, Marketing and E-commerce Manager, Harris Farm Markets

Smooth onboarding, seamless integration: partnering with Uber Direct

Uber has proven to be a valuable partner for Harris Farm, and the feeling is mutual. The Uber Direct implementation was, in Grave’s words, “seamless,” allowing Harris Farm to get up and running quickly. Grave also appreciates how Uber Direct has evolved over the past year, enhancing the consumer experience and its merchant capabilities. “Where Uber Direct was 12 months ago is significantly different to where they are today,” Grave says. His favorite feature is Uber’s text alerts that provide updates on the order status, from packing to delivery. After seeing just what Uber can do, Harris Farm knew it wanted to expand the partnership further and continue to optimize the delivery experience for its loyal customers.

Attracting a new type of customer through Uber Eats

Building on the success of its Uber Direct experience, Harris Farm launched on the Uber Eats app in late 2023. At first, the company worried that Uber Eats might cannibalize online orders from its own website. But this hasn’t been the case. In fact, Uber Eats is helping Harris Farm attract a new type of customer and incremental orders. A side-by-side test in its Bondi store helped the grocer confirm this suspicion. “Uber Eats brings us a different customer, or at least a different order type,” Grave says. “Uber Eats orders tend to be a smaller basket size with more snacks and last-minute meal items, and order volume tends to pick up in the evening around dinner or for a weekend brekkie,” Grave adds. While the size of Uber Eats orders is smaller than the orders that Harris Farm receives on its own website, the chain values the ability to attract and serve new customers who might not otherwise order online from its stores.

Boosting sales and brand visibility through targeted promotions

Uber Eats has also helped Harris Farm cost-effectively boost its visibility and attract new customers through seasonal offers around holidays like Mother's Day and Valentine's Day. With collaborative support from the Uber Eats team, Harris Farm can now plan and execute promotional campaigns that increase sales and improve brand visibility. Uber Eats’ simple yet powerful marketing tools, such as targeted ads and offers, allow Harris Farm to reach specific demographics and customer segments effectively. Overall, Harris Farm is delighted with how responsive and proactive the Uber team has been, from implementation and reports to marketing, in-app promotions, and beyond.

What’s next for Harris Farm?

Looking to the future, Harris Farm plans to improve stock management, refine store layouts for better product selection, and use Uber's dashboard data to boost sales and customer satisfaction. Through these changes, the grocery store chain can reconnect more Aussies with the joy of food, with even fresher and more delightful experiences in store.

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