Sainsbury’s steps up online offering with clothing brand pilot
Sainsbury’s is set to pilot selling its clothing brand Tu online after the supermarket giant last month announced its online business achieved over £1bn in annual sales.
The pilot, one of the first initiatives under new CEO Mike Coupe, is set to begin in August and will offer ‘an invited group of customers in the Midlands’ its Tu womenswear, menswear and childrenswear clothing on a bespoke website, with customers able to choose between Click & Collect and home delivery services.
Robbie Feather, Sainsbury’s online director said: "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."
The move will mean that Sainsbury’s joins rival supermarkets Tesco and Asda who already offer their F&F and George clothing brands respectively online.
James Brown, Sainsbury’s non-food trading director added the trial follows strong growth of its clothing instore.
"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 began selling clothing in 1994 and last year more than 7.5m customers bought its Tu clothing, generating sales of approximately £750 million.