Sainsbury’s to expand clothing sales by trialling online launch
Sainsbury is to take on its high street and supermarket rivals by selling its clothing brand Tu online for the first time.
The retailer said yesterday that it will pilot selling clothing to around 200 “invited” customers in the Midlands in August, which if successful would then be rolled out nationwide.
It comes after people close to the company previously said that clothing margins were too low to justify delivering clothes bought over the internet.
The trial, which starts in August, will offer 80 per cent of Tu’s womenswear, menswear and childrenswear ranges.
The supermarket chain has been expanding its clothing business and improving the quality as it looks to compete with Tesco’s F&F clothing brand and George at Asda.
The Tu brand, which was relaunched last summer, now generates around £750m of sales.
The announcement was made ahead of Sainsbury’s first quarter update tomorrow, with analysts predicting a one to 1.5 per cent decline in UK like-for-like sales.