Asda to roll out drive thru click-and-collect service to all stores

The grocer’s click and collect roll out is stepping up a gear, with aims to open 10 a week to encompass its 568 store estate.

By the end of November, Asda shoppers will be able to use drive thrus at just over 300 stores, up from 242 currently.

Arch-rival Tesco this week revealed it is piloting its first off-site click-and-collect points at a school and two car parks in York and intends to expand this to libraries and sports centres. It now has 200 drive thrus at its stores, which will rise to 300 next year.

Asda home shopping director Kieran Shanahan told the IGD Online Grocery Retailing conference in London today that its shoppers are rapidly adopting its multichannel innovations.

He said: “We launched same day delivery from 20 stores in the summer and have been blown away by the demand.”

Asda intends to roll out the same day service, which allows shoppers who order by 1pm to take delivery after 4pm, to 40 more stores by the end of the year and extend it further in 2014.

Asda is investing £700m this year in stores and digital innovation. The retailer is looking to broaden its suite of delivery options to travel hubs and universities, in addition to its Collect+ tie-up with 5,250 convenience stores, to reach consumers where it does not have stores.

Shanahan said that 25% of revenue from its 250,000 weekly online shoppers now comes from mobile devices and it will launch a new tablet app in early 2014.

Asda digital marketing director Glyn Williams said two million customers had downloaded its app and the retailer has begun using SMS and push notifications to market products.

He said: “We want to be the most convenient retailer for our customers. Investing in infrastructure, technology and people.

“We will innovate, we want to test and learn, and we are. Lots of what we do may not work but we have confidence that through that we will learn.”