Sainsbury’s to pilot selling clothing online

Supermarket giant Sainsbury’s, which is also the UK’s seventh largest clothing retailer, will pilot selling clothes online from August, marking one of the first initiatives under incoming chief executive Mike Coupe. The pilot will feature an “invited group of customers” in the Midlands, who will be able to shop

Sainsbury’s popular Tu womenswear, menswear and childrenswear collections via a bespoke website. Customers will be able to choose from around 80 percent of the Tu clothing range and they will be able to select between Click & Collect and home delivery services to receive goods.

James Brown, Sainsbury’s non-food trading director announcing the trial said: "Our strategy of creating high-street style clothing at supermarket prices has proved a hit with millions of our customers and sales continue to grow strongly.

“We have doubled our design team, invested heavily in the quality of our clothing and last year we relaunched the brand. Now’s the right time to explore the online channel as a complement to our store business."

Sainsbury's trials online clothing sales

All clothing orders will be fulfilled from Sainsbury’s dedicated high-tech clothing depot in Bedford, which serves the 400 stores selling Sainsbury’s clothing. If the trial is a success it is thought that the supermarket group will roll out online clothing shopping for all of the UK in 2015.

Robbie Feather, Sainsbury’s online director added: "Our customers want to shop with us through a range of channels that allow them to shop whenever and wherever they want and they’ve been asking us to extend our online service to our clothing. The pilot will allow us to work with a group of customers to build the right customer experience."

Sainsbury’s began selling clothing in 1994 and last year more than 7.5 million customers bought its Tu clothing, generating sales of approximately 750 million pounds. Currently the supermarket is the UK’s seventh-largest clothing retailer by volume of goods sold, and 11th in terms of the value of clothing sold, up from 15th a year ago.

The online trial marks a push forward in the development of its non-food and online businesses as the supermarket is already behind competitors Tesco and Asda’s George brand who already offer online clothing shopping. Currently Sainsbury’s only uses its website as a promotional tool for its Tu brand.

Images: Sainsbury's Tu