Home delivery

Home delivery was first offered at Sainsbury's Croydon branch, which served a wide suburban customer base.

The first delivery vehicles were carts, pulled by horses or even by hand. Bicycles and tricycles came in to use at the turn of the century and in 1915 Sainsbury's purchased its first Model T Ford van.

Four deliveries were made a day, at 8.30am, 11.30am, 2.30pm and 4.30pm, and customers had to place their orders at least half an hour before these times.

Unlike today's delivery services, orders still had to be placed at the shop - free delivery saved them having to carry their shopping home. Delivery boys were only allowed to deliver goods to the front door, not the gate or roadside, and they were forbidden from taking extra goods with them to sell.

In 1934, rising costs led Sainsbury's to introduce a charge for home delivery. During the Second World War, despite pressures to cut back and save on fuel and manpower, Sainsbury's continued to provide home delivery to customers too frail or elderly to reach the shops.

Demand for home delivery fell with the introduction of self-service shopping and the growth in car ownership and home refrigerators. Home delivery was suspended in 1955.

In recent years, home delivery has returned. In 1995 Sainsbury's introduced ‘Wine Direct' for internet wine sales. In 1998 the service was extended back to food with the launch of ‘Orderline'. This enabled customers to order their shopping via telephone, fax or the internet and have it delivered to their front door. The Sainsbury's Online internet shopping service remains a popular option for today's ‘time poor' customers.