and Melbourne CBD and Chadstone stores. Customers can choose to have their products delivered via Uber through the Incu website, rather than being through the Uber app itself. Established in 2002 by twin brothers Brian and Vincent Wu, Incu has long been a staple of Australian fashion and is known for bringing a number of international brands to local shores.  Incu’s chief executive Doug Low told Inside Retail that the business hadn’t really considered Uber as a delivery partner before he used it as part of a JB Hi-Fi delivery.  “That’s when I really started to look into it. It’s just a way of being able to service customers so that they can get their stock quicker than we could previously deliver,” Low said.  The offer is also seen as an expansion of the business’ successful click-and-collect offer, launched last year, which now accounts for up to 20 per cent of online orders.  “The demand is there to get the product straight away, but not everyone can necessarily go to their local store to pick it up,” he explained.  “It’s about setting that standard, and then going above and beyond to be able to offer consumers new things.” A new type of fast fashion Speed of service and convenience have been battlegrounds that businesses across the retail industry have long fought, and is a large part of what customers expect. For Incu, being able to get products to customers in a matter of hours is a whole new way of offering customers the best possible service.  “I recently went on a trip to Bali with my family, and I had planned to do a bit of running while I was there,” Low explained.  “The day before we left I went to pack my runners and realised the sole had come loose. I went into a frenzy to get myself a new pair of runners, and there wasn’t anything like Uber to deliver them, so I had to go to my local store and pick it up which was inconvenient. “I would have paid for that service to get the product to me on time, and I’ve spoken to a lot of people who have got weddings or events and think they’ve got their outfit sorted, but on the day realise they’re missing something. It could be a pair of shoes, or a bag, or the actual dress.” Uber Direct ANZ’s general manager Ben Goodger told Inside Retail that convenience is the number one reason Australians shop online, and that the business expects a third of all retail revenue to be spent online by 2033. “It’s evident that despite recent challenges, and even after Covid-19 lockdowns, Australians are still turning to e-commerce for their shopping,” Goodger said.  “As a result, we’re seeing retailers explore ways to make delivery more seamless  [and] support this acceleration of growth within the e-commerce space.” More to come While the partnership with Uber is exciting, it isn’t the only thing that Incu is cooking up. A website refresh is incoming, Low explained, in an effort to add “a bit more personality” to the brand’s digital experience.  “What we’re finding is that the website is really above expectations functionally, and we’ve learned a lot,” Low said.  “But for customers that have been in Incu stores, it’s missing a few things. It’s a combination of things: the store fit-out, the staff experience, and how it all fits together. We’ve been working really hard at that.”