Tesco was at the forefront of delivering online orders as early as the 1980s and this year, it staked its claim to another first as it enabled shoppers across the country to have their orders delivered on the same day.
Back in 1984, the supermarket delivered groceries to Jane Snowball of Gateshead when she placed her order via a television-based online ordering system. This year, it extended a same-day grocery service first launched in London and the South East in 2014. Now it offers the service from more than 300 stores across the UK: shoppers who order before 1pm will get their delivery from 7pm onwards. This, it says, means 99% of UK households can now use the same-day service, from the Shetland Islands to Cornwall, six days a week, or seven in London, for a fee of between £3 and £8. This year’s expansion came in response to what Tesco said was an 18% growth in demand for the service in early 2017 alone.
“Customers tell us they like getting their shopping delivered quickly and conveniently,” said Adrian Letts, managing director of Tesco Online. “With our same day delivery service, they can now order by lunch to get their shopping delivered for their evening meal. We’ve seen the service grow in popularity since we launched it in London and the South East, so we’re really excited to be rolling it to customers nationwide.”
Londoners can get their groceries even more quickly. The retailer launched Tesco Now in June, delivering within the hour to addresses within Central London.
Tesco customers can order online for same-day collection, as well as for delivery at a nominated time and day, or within a flexible four-hour window on a chosen day.
The supermarket also offers a Delivery Saver, enabling shoppers to pay a flat monthly fee of between £3.99 and £7.99 for unlimited home deliveries, as long as each shop is worth £40 or more. A minimum basket charge of £4 applies when orders are worth less than the threshold.
To stop the problem of wastage through over ordering, the retailer offers refunds on non-personalised and unused products that are returned within 30 days, although perishable items must be returned by the ‘best before’ date.
Non-grocery Tesco Direct small items and clothing can be collected in-store from 3pm the day after an order is placed by 5pm, while standard delivery costs £3 for a two-to-five-day delivery, and £5.95 for nominated-date or next-day (for items ordered by 3pm) delivery.
