Drive-through option for the busy shopper

The service is aimed at customers who do not want to do their weekly shop themselves, but who also do not have time to wait at home for an internet delivery.

Instead, for a flat fee of 2, they will be able to drive to a dedicated area in a Tesco store at a set time and pick up their shopping without having to leave their car.

The first drive-through store is being launched at the group's Tesco Extra store in Baldock, Hertfordshire, today as a pilot scheme.

If it is successful the group plans to roll it out across other areas of the country, although it does not have a timescale for the expansion.

Laura Wade-Gery, chief executive of Tesco dotcom and Tesco Direct, said: "This will be especially popular with busy mums who have the school run and children's activities to manage.

"It also offers a solution to parents who want to avoid the challenge of shopping in a busy store with children in tow but can't afford the time to stay in for the shop to arrive to their door.

"We also expect it to help young professionals who want the convenience of a pre-picked and packed shop but who cannot commit to waiting at home for delivery."

The service will be run by the Tesco dotcom team, with customers ordering their groceries online as if they were doing an internet shop, only they will choose the Click and Collect option.

This will enable them to book a two-hour collection slot and they can pick up their shopping anytime within this window.

They will then go to a reserved area in the car park, show a member of staff their shopping reference details and have their goods loaded into their car boot.

The charge for the service is 2, compared with a sliding scale of charges for internet deliveries which starts at 3.

Customers will pay for their groceries online as if they were doing an internet shop.

The drive-through facility will be available seven days a week, and customers will be able to collect their shopping until 9pm on weekdays.

Tesco dot com generated total sales of around 2.1bn in 2009/2010, contributing 136m in profits.

More than one million UK households regularly order their goods from the supermarket group's website.

Tesco is also opening its third dotcom store in Greenford today.

The stores, which are also in Aylesford and Croydon, exist purely to supply goods for its home delivery service.