GB Tesco store

The same-day click and collect option will be available at nearly 300 stores

Tesco has begun a same-day click and collect service for grocery orders as the race hots up between retailers to provide the fastest convenience service.

The service will be available at nearly 300 stores nationwide, encompassing 90 per cent of outlets that already offer the click and collect option.

The move from the supermarket comes after Tuesday’s figures from Kantar Wordpanel showed that its recovery was on track. Sales at the retailer were down just 0.4 per cent in the 12 weeks to 14 August – the slowest rate of decline in six months.

With increasingly time-poor shoppers demanding more convenience, food retailers are having to respond with faster services, the Telegraph reported. And the major supermarkets are now having to compete with new grocery delivery service Amazon Fresh.

In June the US online retailer waded into Britain’s competitive grocery retail sector by offering Amazon Prime customers in north and east London same-day deliveries on a range of more than 130,000 groceries.

Sainsbury’s followed suit later that month by announcing it would also trial same-day grocery deliveries at three of its stores, with the plan to expand this number to 30 by Christmas.

And in August Morrisons signed a new deal with online delivery partner Ocado to expand its home delivery operations and reach more households.

Now Tesco has entered the race with its click and collect announcement. According to the Telegraph, a spokesman from the supermarket said: “We know time is valuable to our customers and they expect more convenience and choice than ever before in how, when and where they do their grocery shopping.

'Our same-day grocery click and collect service is available at nearly 300 stores across the UK and means our customers can get their shopping at a time and location that is convenient for them.”

Customers will pay £2 per slot from Monday to Thursday and £3 on Friday or Saturday, with shoppers having to order their groceries before 1pm for collection after 4pm.