Morrisons' e-commerce site goes live

Friday, December 27, 2013 - 11:11 by Graham Miller

Supermarket chain Morrisons has finally joined its closest rivals in offering customers the chance to buy their groceries online, as its own-brand e-commerce site was launched late last week.

During the first few months of operation, the site will only make deliveries available to those living in the Midlands, but as the year progresses, the scheme will become broader and by the start of 2015 it is anticipated to offer national delivery.

While Morrisons may be a long way behind the game when it comes to how recently its e-commerce site has launched, it does have the edge in other areas and is really pushing key innovations to the top of the agenda.

For example, customers will be able to select from a number of options when ordering fresh produce, such as dictating the cut of the meat they get when using Morrisons' butchery service.

Things will seem more familiar for people who use safe shopping online to buy items from other supermarket chains when checking out the delivery options. Morrisons has allocated one hour slots, with delivery costs varying between £1 and £5, depending on whether they fall in peak or off-peak periods.

Morrisons has teamed up with Ocado to provide the distribution infrastructure for its e-commerce offering, so it is not flying blind and will have plenty of experienced people helping it to find its footing in this competitive marketplace.

Of course, the arrival of yet another major player in the e-commerce delivery industry will mean that rival firms, like Tesco and Sainsbury's, will be forced to increase their own competitiveness. So at the moment it is unclear whether Morrisons will be able to muscle in on established rivals, or find it tough to take the reins.