Sainsbury’s trials delivery by electric cargo bike
Sainsbury’s is piloting a grocery delivery service by electric cargo bike.
The trial will see a fleet of five zero emission bikes delivering up to 100 online orders a day across South London from the supermarket’s Streatham Common store.
Sainsbury’s is launching the trial with e-cargobikes.com as it looks to find out if the delivery method is a more efficient way of getting groceries to customers living in urban areas.
With the bikes having enough capacity to carry several customer orders at a time, Sainsbury’s said they will make the most of cycle lanes in order to avoid traffic, especially during peak delivery hours. In addition, they will be able to park closer to customers’ homes than is often possible for traditional delivery vans.
Once customers have placed their online orders, Sainsbury’s will use routing technology to determine which orders are to be delivered by a traditional van or by electric cargo bike. The order will then be delivered during the customer’s chosen time slot by Sainsbury’s branded bikes and riders.
If successful, the trial could be rolled out to further areas across the UK.
Clodagh Moriarty, director of online at Sainsbury’s, said: “We’re delighted to be the first supermarket to trial grocery deliveries by electric cargo bikes. We’re always looking for new ways to make sure we can best serve our customers and this trial will help us explore whether there might be a more flexible way to deliver Sainsbury’s groceries to those who live in busy cities.”
