Morrisons set to trial e-commerce systems

Friday, September 10, 2010 - 09:52 by Simon Crisp

Supermarket chain Morrisons has announced that it will be testing out its first online shopping site in early 2011, bringing it in line with its larger rivals and increasing the competition in the online grocery shopping arena.

Morrisons has managed to experience significant growth in the past few years and its position as the UK's fourth largest supermarket brand might soon change, as it has announced that quarterly profits are up by 14 per cent for the past three months year on year, bringing them to £410 million before tax.

In a statement a spokesperson for the group said that the economic conditions were still putting strain on consumers and, as such, it would endeavour to squeeze prices, to make them as appealing and affordable as possible, while remaining viable for the business.

The sluggish growth of the grocery industry is expected to persist into late 2010, according to Morrisons, although it is managing to buck the trend and expand its business, so as to offer safe shopping online to its customers.

Sir Ian Gibson, chair of the Morrisons board, was cautiously optimistic about the firm's performance in the year so far, alluding to the fact that the market for grocery shopping has become more competitive, perhaps in line with Morrisons' increasing stature in the UK industry.

Morrisons CEO,Dalton Philips, said that he was keen to strengthen the firm's position in the UK market and make it even better for the loyal customers. It looks like a new safe shopping online outlet will be a big part of this drive, but it could be held back from full scale launch until the middle of next year, as the firm carries out rigorous trials to decide whether or not it is fit for purpose and able to stand up against the competition.