Sidewinder today revealed that its RealTIME Scheduler software solution, is now powering the Sainsburys to You grocery delivery online delivery planning tool.
In an effort to acquire and retain more customers by obtaining a competitive advantage over its rivals, Sainsburys to You is the first national supermarket to launch one-hour delivery slots outside of London. During the trial phases, Sainsburys to You witnessed sales increase by an average of ten per cent and the company hopes that trend will continue as the service is rolled out to more stores.
Through the new marketing campaign, The 1hr Delivery Promise, customers select a one-hour time slot and if the delivery is one second late outside of the one-hour slot the customer will receive a 10 voucher off their next online shop.
Sainsburys to You can make such delivery promises thanks to the Sidewinder RealTIME Scheduler software driving its scheduling process. For any given time slot, Sainsburys to You has a finite number of stores, drivers, pickers and vehicles available to fulfil each order. RealTIME Scheduler constantly tracks customer demand and balances this against the available resource at the customers local store. Every time a customer books a new time slot, the software optimises the existing schedule and factors it against all other bookings made.
Toby Anderson, Head of Online at Sainsbury, commented; Due to the intelligent construction of the Sidewinder software, we now know that the allotted time slots can definitely be fulfilled. Now we are confident that our resources are being used in the most efficient way possible to meet a strict timetable of deliveries.
The Sainsburys to You website allows registered users to plan deliveries up to three weeks in advance. Therefore, RealTIME Scheduler handles a significant number of bookings at any given time with significant increases over the Christmas period. Sainsburys to You covers 74 per cent of the UK, out of 67 stores, receiving 35,000 orders a week.
Derek Brown, sales and marketing director at Sidewinder Europe, says; By having tighter control and greater visibility of the available resources, Sainsburys to You can dramatically improve customer service levels while also reducing its own operating costs. Retail is such a competitive industry that every second counts, whether it is at the till or waiting for a home delivery. To be involved in such an ambitious project as the Sainsburys to You 1hr delivery promise is a real privilege for us and we are confident we can live up to expectations.
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