Sainsbury’s launches ‘mission-based’ shop layout

SmartShop: Sainsburys is trialling new supermarket design to make shopping quicker

The new “mission-based” store layout will be trialled at six of its supermarkets in England as the Big Four retailer attempts to keep up with changes in shopping trends.

Sainsbury’s said the “radically” different shopping layout will help shoppers who are visiting supermarkets more often, but buying fewer, more specific items when they do.

As well as moving its ‘Food to Go’ and fresh bakery sections near to checkouts at the front of the store, Sainsbury’s will increase non-food space by around 30 per cent in trial locations.

Lifestyle products, such as its Tu clothing brand, homeware items and mobile phones, will be situated around the periphery of the shop.

Shoppers will also have greater choice at the checkouts, with manned tills and self-checkout for baskets and small trolleys.

A new SmartShop app will be trialled in two of the six stores, which will enable users to checkout via an electronic handset.

Mike Coupe, chief executive at Sainsbury’s, said: “The majority of people still do most of their shopping in supermarkets and that’s a trend that will continue, but we need to make our supermarkets more convenient for people who visit often to do a smaller shop.

“This trial is about seeing how far we can go in catering for every shopping mission, whether someone wants to pop in quickly to buy a sandwich for lunch, or whether they have more time and want inspiration for the home, or advice on tech and gadgets.

“No matter what customers are buying, we know that everyone wants to check out as quickly as possible and giving customers more checkout options to suit them is key to the trial.

“The pilot stores will act as a barometer for feedback and we’re listening to what customers tell us along the way. This is very much a trial and we know that not everything will work, but certain elements are already proving very popular and we would hope to roll those out more widely where feedback is consistently positive.”

Different elements of the store layout are being trialled across the six stores, which are based in London, Devizes, Bristol, Harpenden, Morcambe and Tamworth.