Sainsbury’s is boosting its digital offering by doubling weekly online orders to 700,000 by the end of October.

The big four supermarket chain said the milestone, which covers home delivery and Click & Collect, means it will have doubled its online capacity since the beginning of March as shoppers moved online during the Coronavirus lockdown.

As part of plans to grow its online offering, Sainsbury’s is also extending online delivery times, starting early morning orders half an hour earlier from 6:30am while late night deliveries will be dropped off until 11:30pm.

The new delivery times will be available from most stores and put in place over the next month.

To meet growing demand almost 200 new Click & Collect locations have been added and there will be nearly 1,000 more Groceries Online vans on the road in the coming months in comparison with last year in addition to 1,000 Argos vans, Sainsbury’s said in a statement.

Sainsbury’s has also completed the rollout of its SmartShop scanning technology, which enables customers to reduce contact by scanning their own shopping and checking out through a dedicated till area.

The retailer is also rolling out SmartShop Mobile Pay to Sainsbury’s convenience stores, offering till-free and contactless shopping. The app will be live in over 250 Sainsbury’s Locals by the end of this week.

Nigel Blunt, director of e-commerce at Sainsbury’s, said: “Doubling our groceries online orders in six months to 700,000 is an incredible milestone. It has been a huge team effort and also demonstrates the strength and flexibility of our online model.

He added: “Over the past six months, customers have adapted to shopping increasingly online and we’re hearing really positive feedback from shoppers using this service. With our strong availability, outstanding stores and amazing colleagues, we’re ready to serve our customers however and whenever they want to shop.”

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