Tesco switches local service away from Enfield dark store in central London push

The grocer will begin serving customers with orders picked from its Tesco Gallions Reach Extra from August.

The store last served online shoppers in January 2012 when Tesco opened the £30m Enfield dark store.

The shop has hired a new dotcom manager and recruited up to 50 staff to support the expanded operation.

Last year, Tesco was forced to apologise to shoppers after late deliveries and missing items in orders from the Enfield depot. In April, the retailer cancelled all orders from the depot leaving shoppers furious at the last minute cancellations with some pledging they would leave Tesco for etailer Ocado.

However, it is understood that accessing increasing numbers of shoppers in central London where the grocer has fewer large stores to pick from was the rationale behind the decision.

A Tesco spokesman said: “The decision to restart dotcom deliveries from Gallions Reach reflects the opportunity to increase deliveries and market share in London as some areas are approaching capacity.”

Tesco has four other dark stores around London in Greenford, Aylesford, Crawley and Croydon. It is also in the process of building a further depot in Erith.

The dark stores stock about 26,000 lines and bake 1,000 loaves of bread each day. They operated 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Online capacity is a key issue for the major grocers. Waitrose frequently sells out its weekend delivery slots while Ocado’s shoppers flock to nab slots in the Christmas period.