Sainsbury’s is preparing to roll out same-day grocery deliveries to 30 stores after unveiling plans for 900 jobs at its new fulfilment centre.
The supermarket giant is already testing same-day deliveries at three stores in London and the South East and said the pilot would be extended by Christmas “assuming the trials are successful.”
Sainsbury’s stores in Streatham Common, Richmond, and Brookwood in Surrey already promise to fulfil all food orders placed before midday within six hours, depending on whether shoppers opt for home delivery or click and collect.
Customers collecting their shopping from their nearby store will be able to do so within four hours, while home deliveries will be fulfilled by 6pm, Sainsbury’s said.
The service will be included at no extra charge to customers with a Sainsbury’s Delivery Pass.
The move comes just a month after Sainsbury’s launched its Chop Chop smartphone app, allowing customers living within 3km of its Wandsworth supermarket to have orders delivered to their homes within an hour.
Grocers are keen to step up their fulfilment propositions in the fiercely competitive sector, particularly after Amazon brought its Fresh grocery proposition to the UK last month.
The etail titan cranked up the pressure on its mainstream supermarket rivals by pledging to focus on low prices and promising customers evening delivery slots between 5pm and 11pm on all orders placed before 1pm.
Sainsbury’s director of online Robbie Feather said: “As our online sales grow we are seeing an increasing proportion of orders placed for next day delivery, so this trial is a natural next step in delivering our strategy to help customers shop whenever and wherever they want.”
The grocer, which is pressing ahead with its strategy to be there for its customers “whenever and wherever they want”, has also unveiled plans to create 900 jobs at its online fulfilment centre in Bromley-by-Bow, in East London.
Sainsbury’s is already recruiting for the first 470 roles and plans to hire another 430 staff by 2020 to work at the 185,000 sq ft site.
The positions cover a range of vacancies including drivers, order pickers, product replenishers and managers.
Feather added: “Demand for our online delivery service in the capital continues to grow. We expect this trend to continue as more and more customers enjoy the flexibility of multichannel shopping using our groceries website and app, in addition to visiting stores.
“Our online orders are currently picked from supermarket stores across the UK and this model will continue, but the Bromley-by-Bow centre will help us keep pace with demand in London, enabling us to fulfil another 25,000 orders per week.”
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