Sainsbury’s doubles online capacity and extends delivery times
Sainsbury’s says that it is on track to deliver 700,000 online grocery orders a week by the end of October.
That number, which covers home delivery and Click and Collect, means the supermarket will have doubled its online capacity since the beginning of March.
Sainsbury’s is also is extending online delivery times, starting early morning orders half an hour earlier from 6:30am while late night deliveries will run until 11:30pm, half an hour later than previously available. The new times will be available from most stores and put in place over the next month.
Elsewhere, almost 200 new Click and Collect locations have been added and there will be nearly 1,000 more online grocery vans on the road in the coming months in comparison with last year. There will also be 1,000 vans out delivering for Argos.
Sainsbury’s has re-opened its Delivery Pass subscription service to new customers. It claims that new subscriptions were up over 120% in the first week they were available versus last year as many customers plan to continue to do their weekly grocery shop online.
Nigel Blunt, Director of E-commerce at Sainsbury’s, says: “Doubling our grocery online orders in six months to 700,000 is an incredible milestone. It has been a huge team effort and also demonstrates the strength and flexibility of our online model.’
“Over the past six months, customers have adapted to shopping increasingly online and we’re hearing really positive feedback from shoppers using this service. With our strong availability, outstanding stores and amazing colleagues, we’re ready to serve our customers however and whenever they want to shop.”
Tesco
Sainsbury’s remains some way behind Tesco, however.
In April, its arch rival became the first retailer to fulfil one million online grocery orders in a week. It now serves nearly 1.5 million customers a week online, up from around 600,000 at the start of the pandemic.
