Sainsbury's moves swiftly to roll-out Argos digital stores

LONDON, Sept 5 (Reuters) - British supermarket group Sainsbury (Amsterdam: SJ6.AS - news) 's said on Monday it planned to introduce Argos digital concessions to more than 20 additional stores by Christmas as it seeks to benefit quickly from its purchase of Home Retail (Other OTC: HMRLF - news) .

Sainsbury's completed the acquisition of Argos and Habitat owner Home Retail on Friday, five months after a 1.4 billion pounds ($1.87 billion) deal was sealed.

The purchase will accelerate the food retailer's growth by creating Britain's largest general merchandise retail business and will also expand Sainsbury's online presence.

The additional Argos concessions, ranging in size from 1,000 to more than 5,000 square feet, will take the total to over 30.

There were already 10 Argos concessions in Sainsbury's stores under Home Retail's ownership.

Customers will be able to buy Argos products instantly in-store via tablets, or reserve online for same-day collection.

Sainsbury's said it would also introduce five Mini Habitat concessions within Sainsbury's stores over the coming months.

The purchase of Home Retail means Sainsbury's now sells over 90,000 products, trading from about 2,000 UK stores - 601 supermarkets, 773 convenience stores and 739 Argos stores including concessions, and three Habitat stores.

($1 = 0.7505 pounds) (Reporting by James Davey. Editing by Jane Merriman)