Loblaw says it's exploring grocery home delivery partnership with Instacart

A Loblaws store is seen Monday, March 9, 2015 in Montreal. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz)

VANCOUVER - Loblaw Companies Ltd. (TSX:L) says it's exploring the possibility of offering grocery home delivery one day.

Spokesman Kevin Groh says in a statement that the company has "engaged" a number of e-commerce innovators around the world, including Instacart, as it continues to explore the best ways to serve its customers in the future. He says that may include home delivery.

Loblaw already offers a click and collect program, where customers order their groceries online and pick up the items at a store's parking lot within a pre-selected time frame. Groh says the program will soon be at 200 of the company's stores.

California-based Instacart enables customers to shop from local stores' inventory and place an order via an app, which is then picked up by a so-called expert shopper and delivered to the customer's location.

The news comes after tech giant Amazon recently acquired Whole Foods Market, which has 13 Canadian locations. The acquisition could accelerate the development of online grocery delivery in Canada.

Currently, Canadians have few options for grocery delivery with a small number of companies, like Grocery Gateway, and a few large chains offering the service in limited locations.