Sainsbury’s has lifted the lid on its first ‘food on the go’ store at London’s Mansion House.

The grocer has overhauled its existing Sainsbury’s Local shop on Queen Victoria Street with a fresh look and an increased focus on a hyper-local food for now proposition.

More space is afforded to the customer as they step into the store, with wooden floors creating a more modern and open feel.

A ‘day table’ greets visitors, with wicker trays containing fresh food items that are changed three times a day to cater for breakfast, lunch and dinner missions.

An orange juicer, self-service coffee machine and a hot food area add further choice at the front of the shop for customers seeking to get in and out quickly.

Across the rest of the store, Sainsbury’s has used data from its Nectar card loyalty scheme to shape its ranging, with 87% of the items stocked tailored directly to local customers based on their purchasing habits.

The proposition has also been streamlined significantly to near-Aldi and Lidl proportions – the retailer has leveraged customer data to select just one line of ambient goods such as jam, tomato ketchup, mayonnaise and pickle.

As a result, the supermarket giant has slashed around 30% of the ambient range compared to a regular Sainsbury’s Local store.

Sainsbury’s managing director for the central zone, Darren Sinclair, tells Retail Week: “The offer is very customer-centric – it is so geared towards what our customers want in this vicinity.

“Because it is based on Nectar data, and we only sell one jam or one ketchup, every single product on the shelf here earns its place – but we know it’s the right one for this customer base.”

The near-3,000 sq ft shop is the first Sainsbury’s c-store to feature a Sushi Gourmet concession and a pizza counter – both of which are highlighted to passing customers by large neon signage in the windows.

Colourful displays are also the order of the day, with lights helping to direct shoppers to different areas of the store such as the food to go fridges, bakery, beer and wine and tobacco and lottery.

All signage used in the store is made of wood rather than plastic, while the refrigerators run off of cold water – both firsts that are designed to help Sainsbury’s beef up its sustainability credentials and reach its net-zero target by 2040.

Customers can pay using staffed or self-service checkouts, or they can opt to pay using their mobile phone through Sainsbury’s SmartShop app. Click and collect services and a reverse vending machine for plastic bottles and cans are also available in the checkout area.

The supermarket giant is already planning eight more ‘food on the go’ stores in major UK cities in the short term as part of its ongoing investment into revamping its store estate.