Sainsbury’s is carrying out at a trial at six of its supermarkets, addressing new and emerging shopping trends. The changes being tested include a different supermarket layout. It is also piloting two new types of checkout, giving customers four different options to choose from. In addition to manned checkouts and self-checkouts used for basket shops, Sainsbury’s is offering a larger self-checkout option for people with small trollies. Two stores are also piloting its new SmartShop app. When ready to roll-out, this will enable customers to scan in their shopping lists at home. Once they get to store, the app will show a map locating their chosen items around the store and they will pay via their mobile phone. The six stores involved in the trial are: Alperton in London; Devizes in Wiltshire; Emersons Green in Bristol; Harpenden in Essex; Morecambe in Lancashire and Tamworth in Staffordshire.

Mike Coupe, CEO at Sainsbury’s, says: “The majority of people still do most of their shopping in supermarkets and that’s a trend that will continue, but we need to make our supermarkets more convenient for people who visit often to do a smaller shop. This trial is about seeing how far we can go in catering for every shopping mission, whether someone wants to pop in quickly to buy a sandwich for lunch, or whether they have more time and want inspiration for the home, or advice on tech and gadgets. No matter what customers are buying, we know that everyone wants to check out as quickly as possible and giving customers more checkout options to suit them is key to the trial. The pilot stores will act as a barometer for feedback and we’re listening to what customers tell us along the way. This is very much a trial and we know that not everything will work, but certain elements are already proving very popular and we would hope to roll those out more widely where feedback is consistently positive.”

Sainsbury’s is also trialling a new format convenience store opposite its London Store Support Centre in Holborn. The store, which is just under 1,000 sq ft, is the smallest Sainsbury’s Local to date and is designed to meet the needs of people working in the area who want to buy food for breakfast, lunchtime or get something on the way home for dinner. It opened 98 convenience stores last year and will open one to two per week this year. It says that the new format will spark more property opportunities if it proves successful.

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