Sainsburys is to be the first grocer to use e-cargo-bikes for deliveries with its pilot in Streatham, London. It will be using five e-cargo-bikes, delivering up to 100 orders a day to online customers near the store.

The Sainsburys trial is in conjunction with e-cargobikes.com who will be supplying the bikes. The machines will have the capacity for several customers’ orders at a time.

The tests are underway to see whether e-cargo-bikes could be a more efficient way of getting goods around cities than by traditional bike or van. The grocer will be using routing technology to choose between e-cargo-bike and van for the deliveries during the pilot.

Sainsbury’s has launched these trials to test whether delivering groceries by electric cargo bike could be a more efficient way of getting groceries to customers living in busy cities.

The supermarket retailer is to use routing technology to determine which orders are delivered by a traditional van or by electric cargo bike.

“We’re delighted to be the first supermarket to trial grocery deliveries by electric cargo bikes,” said Clodagh Moriarty, director of online at Sainsbury’s. “We’re always looking for new ways to make sure we can best serve our customers and this trial will help us explore whether there might be a more flexible way to deliver Sainsbury’s groceries to those who live in busy cities.”

James FitzGerald, MD of e-cargobikes.com, said: “We’re thrilled to be working with Sainsbury’s on this trial. By taking existing e-cargobike technology and putting it to the test in a new market, we’re reimagining grocery deliveries and exploring a more sustainable transport system.”