UK grocer Sainsbury's has been on the click & collect expansion trail for some time now and, since the end of the last year financial year, it has been planning to double the number of click & collect collection points in its stores to around 200.
But with the £1.4 billion takeover of Home Retail Group completed last week, the supermarket has today detailed a slight change in strategy as to looks to combine the acquired businesses of Argos and Habitat, and their respective retail partners, into the plan.
Sainsbury's said it will be launching up to 200 newly-designed digital click & collect points in stores across the UK by the end of 2016, enabling customers to order on the web and collect locally. As part of the strategy, new digital collection points for Argos’s exclusive partnership with eBay will launch in Sainsbury’s click & collect stores.
Customers will be able to pick up their Tu clothing, eBay and DPD parcel deliveries from a Sainsbury’s store near them, while 30 Sainsbury’s click & collect points will also offer Argos online collection.
Mike Coupe, Sainsbury's CEO, said: "Our vision in bringing these two successful retail businesses together is to combine Sainsbury's leadership in food retailing with Argos's digital strength and non-food capability.
"We are excited about the potential of this combination and today's announcement is a clear demonstration of how this ambition will benefit customers, bringing them a broader range of quality goods and services whenever and wherever they want."
In a nod to the Argos digital store concept, which saw technology installed in shops to accompany the traditional catalogue retailing model, tablet devices will be provided in the new-look Sainsbury's click & collect points as the retailer looks to speed up the parcel collection process in store.
