Sainsbury's announces intentions to sell clothes online

Monday, June 16, 2014 - 10:00 by Sarah Collinson

Sainsbury's is best known for selling food to British consumers, both on the high street and via online shopping . But now the retailer has revealed that it will be moving into the e-commerce fashion industry, starting with a trial to take place in August.

This makes quite a bit of sense, especially when you consider that Sainsbury's already ranks amongst the UK's most popular clothing outlets in the bricks and mortar market, according to FashionUnited.

Interestingly, the retailer is not going to be integrating its clothing offerings with its existing e-commerce service for the time being, but instead will be launching a distinct website, from which a small group of customers in the Midlands will be able to order products this summer.

Spokesperson, James Brown, explained that Sainsbury's has managed to win over customers with fashion products that are able to match the quality and style of the items available from dedicated clothing retailers, all while keeping the price low enough to make sense in a supermarket environment. And now this ethos is being applied to safe shopping online.

Brown revealed that Sainsbury's is even making a major investment in its clothing design team, which will double in size ahead of the rollout of its e-commerce site.

The trial will run for a short period and if it proves to be a success, there will be a national rollout early next year.

In the 20 years since Sainsbury's first started selling clothes, it has established its own label, Tu, and made three quarters of a billion pounds in sales. The rapid expansion of its fashion offerings in-store will be bolstered if it does decide to enter the online marketplace, although it will be interesting to see whether it keeps this section separate from its food shopping site.