Using the retailer’s new app, Chop Chop, customers can order up to 20 items for a flat fee of £4.99.
Following a successful small trial in the Wandsworth area, Sainsbury has added 35,699 more postcodes to its app, and began operating the service from its Pimlico store on September 28.
In claiming to be the first UK supermarket to test an on-demand, one hour, grocery delivery service, Sainsbury is to compete with Amazon’s online grocery offer Fresh, which launched in June.
With Fresh, Amazon Prime customers in eligible areas can order a full weekly grocery shop from a range of brands supplied by retailers such as Morrisons, as well as a selection of premium goods from independent producers.
Recruited a team
Sainsbury has recruited a team of 40 store pickers and cyclists to run its service. Customers pay via the app, and can track their order. If a product isn’t in stock, they will receive a call from the store and be asked if they want a substitute item.
Sainsbury first offered home delivery by bicycle from its Croydon branch in 1882.
The retailer has also followed Tesco in testing a same-day delivery service in a number of locations, where customers who order by noon will receive their goods before 6pm.
In July, Sainsbury bought Argos in a further move to enhance its online presence.
Enhance online presence
Jon Rudoe, director of digital and technology at Sainsbury, said: “This trial is part of our strategy to give our customers more options to shop with us whenever and wherever they want.
“Speed of delivery is important to some customers, so we have brought back our bicycle service to test demand further.”
He added: “In Wandsworth, customers are using the new one-hour delivery service to buy forgotten items, or emergency goods when they cannot leave their home, or have invited guests on the spur of the moment.”