Sainsbury’s has unveiled plans to develop an online fulfilment DC in Bromley, East London, to help meet growing demand from online shoppers in the region.

The 185,000ft² facility will give the supermarket the capacity to serve an additional 20,000 customers per week in London and the South East and will be used specifically for online orders.

Although the supermarket has not specified a date for completion, it hopes the site will be operational “within the next few years”.

The purpose-built DC will support its existing store-based picking and handling operation, which will continue when the site opens.

Director of online, digital and cross-channel, Jon Rudoe, said: "I am confident that this new facility will take our online grocery operation to the next level and put us in a perfect position to meet the growing demand in London and the South East."

Earlier this year, Tesco received permission to develop an online retail DC in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, while Marks & Spencer opened an e-commerce facility at its Castle Donington site.