Uber Eats (photo by Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images)

The annual Christmas rush, characterised by frantic supermarket dashes and sold-out delivery slots, is undergoing a fundamental change, with on-demand delivery cementing its role as the crucial last-minute lifeline.

Uber Eats has laid out its strategy to dominate this market, deploying a heavy suite of new tech aimed at maximising order efficiency and expanding into high-margin retail goods.

But the aggressive push raises inevitable questions about operational complexity and the persistent price premium that customers pay for convenience.

New data from Uber Eats confirms the necessity of rapid delivery, revealing a near 20 per cent surge in grocery orders on Christmas Eve last year.

This reliance extends beyond forgotten milk

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