Tesco has announced that it has become the first retailer in the UK to deliver one million online grocery orders in a week.
The retailer has been increasing its delivery slots since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis and expects to offer 1.2 million weekly slots in the coming weeks.
Tesco’s millionth weekly order was from a customer in Chingford in North East London, and the delivery was completed by the Enfield customer fulfilment centre, Tesco said in a statement.
Chris Poad, managing director of the online division, commented, “Now, more than ever, it’s important we do everything we can to help people get access to food, particularly our most vulnerable customers.
“We’ve rapidly changed our online business to help create more slots for people that need them most – from recruiting thousands of new colleagues to changing the way we pick and pack orders.”
The Initiative
Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, Tesco hired around 4,000 drivers and 12,000 pickers to support its initiative to offer more online slots.
In addition, the retailer commences the picking of online orders from 02:00 hours in the morning in stores with an online grocery operation.
The increase in online grocery slots has enabled the retailer to offer priority access to customers identified as most vulnerable by the Government and who don’t have a support network, Tesco added.
Tesco is also working with the Government to identify customers who are not on the vulnerable list but might need support for their grocery needs.
© 2020 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
