Sainsbury’s is gearing up to relaunch its online food ordering function, as part of the next stage of its digital upgrade.
Currently called Occasions Made Easy, customers can place bulk orders of products like sandwiches, cakes and sushi through the Sainsbury’s website to be collected from their local store. Separate from Sainsbury’s standard click & collect and dotcom deliveries, the function is primarily aimed at corporate events or customers gearing up for a party at home, rather than a standard basket shop.
The Grocer understands the relaunch is set for after September. While it’s understood Sainsbury’s is still finalising what the final offer will look like, it will involve a slight rebrand.
Sainsbury’s registered the trademark for a new name – Occasions by Sainsbury’s – with the government’s Intellectual Property Office last week. The listing covers seven classes, including fresh meat, fish and vegetables, tea and coffee, as well as agricultural, horticultural and forestry products.
It forms the latest stage of ongoing work by Sainsbury’s to upgrade its digital systems and store processes, as part of Simon Roberts’ Next Level strategy. It’s seen the rollout of a new AI-integrated forecasting system called Blue Yonder, aimed at improving availability and waste across Sainsbury’s logistics chain.
At Sainsbury’s AGM in July, Roberts told shareholders work to integrate new forecasting system was complete. He confirmed Sainsbury’s would start the upgrade of the food ordering system “later in 2024”.
The Blue Yonder upgrade has been credited by senior figures at Sainsbury’s as having made a “game-changing” impact to its availability levels on shelves, which have dramatically improved – as seen in Sainsbury’s improved performance in the Grocer 33 last year.
It’s come alongside an ongoing integration of machine learning at a store level, following a strategic partnership with Microsoft Azure in May. The tech would also improve the usability and search function of its website for customers.
In May, Sainsbury’s also began a controversial process to switch from its legacy Horizon supplier data access platform to a new Supply Hub system developed by Circana.
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