The bikes will pull trailers fitted with chilled trays, which the supermarket says can carry up to 20 bags of shopping for delivery anywhere within a 15-mile radius of the store.
In addition Waitrose said it is prepared to lend wheeled containers to cyclist shoppers to take their own shopping home.
The initiative will be trialled in Parkstone and Poole in Dorset, Lichfield in Staffordshire, and Droitwich in Worcestershire.
The supermarket trial is one of a number of environmentally friendly transport developments this week.
Royal Mail is also testing electric vans in Oxford and Essex, while in the US General Motors has signed a deal with Segway, which produces electrically powered scooters, to build a two-wheeled two-seater electric car.
Despite the failure of the infamous Sinclair C5 three-wheel car in the 80s, Segway has said it is in talks with city planners to test the vehicle, branded the Puma, in urban environments. Segway’s two-wheel scooter is banned from UK roads.
In addition the European Investment Bank handed the British car industry a boost yesterday when it loaned Jaguar Land Rover £340m to develop environmentally friendly vehicles. A further £373m will be divided between Nissan’s plants in the UK and Spain.
One possible purchaser of the cars could be the government. Gordon Brown has told The Independent in an interview published today he would consider buying electric cars for ministers and is considering a scheme under which motorists would get £2,000 to swap their car for a greener alternative.