Sainsbury's pilots one-hour delivery via Chop Chop mobile app

The supermarket has launched the Chop Chop app on iTunes, which allows users in Wandsworth, London to order goods from the store and have them delivered to their home within one hour.

Payment for goods is taken directly through the app, before personal shoppers hand pick products from the Wandsworth store.

Shoppers within 3km of the supermarket will have their goods delivered to their homes via bicycle for a charge of £4.99 per order.

Sainsbury’s, which hailed the pilot as a “UK first”, is in the process of acquiring Argos owner Home Retail Group as it bids to compete with John Lewis and Amazon in non-food.

But the grocer’s boss Mike Coupe also wants to harness Argos’s fulfilment capabilities to improve its delivery proposition and be there for customers “whenever and wherever they want”.

That need was heightened last week when Amazon launched its Fresh grocery business in 69 postcodes across east and central London, offering customers same-day delivery on all orders placed before 1pm.

A Sainsbury’s spokeswoman said: “We have begun a trial of a new delivery service called Chop Chop in the Wandsworth area.

“On accessing the app, customers living within 3 kilometres of our Wandsworth store can order up to 20 Sainsbury’s products for delivery to their home within an hour.

“This trial, a UK first, is part of our strategy to give our customers more options to shop with us whenever and wherever they want.”