Sainsbury's eyes 100 new click-and-collect food sites in fulfilment drive

The grocer has unveiled plans to double the number of click-and-collect stations it has in its store car parks from 100 to 200 as it accelerates its bid to make shopping “easier for customers”.

Sainsbury’s boss Mike Coupe wants the supermarket giant to be there for shoppers “whenever and wherever they want” and has given the green light to investment in a number of key areas, including its online and digital capabilities.

The grocer, which is poised to update the City with its full-year results tomorrow, is also in the process of acquiring Argos owner Home Retail Group in a £1.4bn deal.

Sainsbury’s will place more Argos concessions into its existing larger stores and will bid to capitalise on its fulfilment capabilities as it strives to compete with Amazon and John Lewis in non-food.

Argos currently offers its customers a Fast Track same-day delivery service for £3.95 per order.

Sainsbury’s launched its click-and-collect groceries service in March 2015, offering shoppers a ‘drive-thru’ option in car parks at some of its larger sheds.

The grocer said the service had proved “very popular” at the first 100 sites.

It has a further 712 collection points in store for non-food items, including its Tu clothing label.

The Sainsbury’s move to increase its click-and-collect footprint comes as Big Four rival Asda scales back its investment drive into the same area.

The Walmart-owned retailer had previously outlined plans to reach 1,000 click-and-collect sites across the UK, but it has hit the pause button on that drive as part of its 18-month Project Renewal strategy to reinvest in 95 of its core supermarkets.

But Asda is piloting what it claims to be the first 24/7 ‘intelligent click-and-collect pod’, which allows shoppers in St Helens to drive up to the site, scan in a QR code and collect goods straight from a temperature-controlled unit.

Sainsbury’s director of online Robbie Feather said: “We know that time is precious and people are increasingly looking for easier, more convenient ways to shop.

“This rollout forms part of our strategy to offer our customers more options to shop whenever and wherever they want.

“Customers really like the fact that they can collect their shopping at a time that suits them and on average it takes them just three minutes from start to end.”