Tesco has become the latest supermarket to trial a one-hour delivery service following Sainsbury’s response to the launch of AmazonFresh last summer.
The retailer has launched a pilot scheme offering one-hour deliveries of up to 20 items at a time, including fresh fruit and vegetables among other products.
The trial, taking place in London, follows the launch of AmazonFresh in June 2016, which offers one-hour attended delivery slots between 7am and 11pm Monday to Sunday.
The emergence of AmazonFresh prompted Sainsbury’s to start its own one-hour service in September 2016, allowing customers to order up to 20 items through an App called Chop Chop, and have them delivered by bicycle within one hour.
The Tesco service will use courier firm Quiqup in zones 1 and 2 of London and, if successful, the one-hour delivery option could be rolled out nationwide. “We will examine the feedback and see how it goes,” a Tesco spokesman told The Mirror.
The retailer is expected to operate under the Tesco Now trademark, which it registered back in October 2015, sparking early rumours that the supermarket chain was set to offer deliveries within the hour.
Tesco is expected to charge £5.99 for its service compared with £4.99 charged by Sainsbury'sand £6.99 paid by AmazonFresh shoppers.
According to The Mirror online grocer Ocado is also considering the introduction of one-hour delivery slots.
Britain’s biggest supermarket chain will be hoping to eat into Amazon’s share of the online retail market. Following the initial launch of AmazonFresh in 69 London postcodes, it was expanded to Greater London, Surrey and Hampshire and now covers 260 UK postcodes.
