Sainsbury’s has relaunched and expanded its online food-to-order service.
The new “bespoke” service – the plans of which were first reported by The Grocer in August last year – is called Occasions by Sainsbury’s and replaces the supermarket’s previously separate Occasions Made Easy.
Sainsbury’s has now integrated the service into its standard Sainsbury’s.co.uk website, creating a “one-stop shop” for customers, enabling them to place orders alongside their standard web shop. Previously orders had to be placed via a separate food-to-order micro-site.
Alongside Occasions By Sainsbury’s, the supermarket has also launched an “online-exclusive butcher” that enables customers to advance order “specialist and premium” cuts of meat, including a Taste the Difference Lamb Guard of Honour and Large Beef Chateaubriand, akin to the service it previously offered via its fresh counters in stores.
Sainsbury’s has also secured a new supply partnership with Plymouth-based Sound Seafood to source “wild-caught fish and seafood”, to be delivered directly to customer’s doors.
Sainsbury’s making its offer more convenient
“At Sainsbury’s, our ambition is to be customers’ first choice for food,” said Rhian Bartlett, chief commercial officer at Sainsbury’s.
“We know our customers lead busy lives, with many citing a lack of time as a barrier to hosting, and we’re here to make the precious time spent together as easy as possible when it comes to entertaining.
“Taking inspiration from this insight, we’ve launched the new Occasions by Sainsbury’s range, to offer delicious, quality, convenient options to our customers for any occasion. Our new butcher and specialist fish services perfectly complement this, offering bespoke, made-to-order food that can be ordered directly from our online grocery site, creating a new level of convenience for our customers with everything in one place,” Bartlett said.
Primarily aimed at corporate events or shoppers looking to entertain, Occasions by Sainsbury’s will continue to offer the seasonally standard range of “ready to serve” sandwich platters, pizzas, cakes and salads. However, the offer will now be expanded to reflect the range of products available in store.
Sushi, pies and curries will also be available, which shoppers will be able to order up to four days in advance, for delivery or collection in store. More than 200 products will be available by the “end of the year”.
Sainsbury’s would continue to add to the range, Bartlett said.
The aim of making its online service “easier to shop” and more “convenient” is in keeping with Sainsbury’s “mission-based” strategy for stores, as part of its ongoing Next Level strategy.
It comes ahead of Sainsbury’s first-quarter sales update on Tuesday 1 July.
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