22nd Jul 2016 07:15
LONDON (Alliance News) - J Sainsbury PLC will create 900 jobs through the opening of a new online fulfilment centre in London this autumn, as it announced plans to trial a same-day delivery service for online orders.
The supermarket chain said the centre, which will be based in Bromley-by-Bow in East London, forms part of its strategy to enable customers "to shop whenever and wherever they want" and will help to cater to the growing demand for online grocery deliveries in London.
Recruitment has just begun for the first 470 jobs and the retailer plans to recruit another 430 colleagues by 2020. Roles include drivers, order pickers, product replenishers and managers.
"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 multi-channel shopping using our groceries website and app, in addition to visiting stores," Online Director Robbie Feather said in a statement.
"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," he added.
The fulfilment centre is being created at a former Royal Mail building and will be completely redeveloped and fitted with the latest automation and picking technology.
Sainsbury's is also trialling a same-day online grocery delivery service at three stores in Streatham Common, Richmond and in Brookwood in Surrey. Customers who order by 12pm will receive their orders in four hours if they select 'click & collect', or in six hours if they choose home delivery.
Sainsbury's said the service is "competitively priced" and free for orders over GBP100 delivered Monday to Thursday.
If the trials are successful, Sainsbury's plans to roll-out the same-day delivery service in 30 stores by Christmas.
"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," Feather said.
Meanwhile, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said the creation of 900 new jobs by Sainsbury's is "fantastic news".
Shares in Sainsbury's were trading down 0.9% at 226.00 pence on Friday morning.
By Karolina Kaminska; [email protected] @KarolinaAllNews
Copyright 2016 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
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