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Morrisons plans e-commerce trial in Yorkshire

Monday, November 11, 2013 - 11:30 by Simon Crisp

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Morrisons has long been criticised for not offering its British customers the ability to order groceries online, but next year, it will finally address this deficiency by launching a nationwide e-commerce site.

In the run-up to the launch, Morrisons will be running trials of the service in Yorkshire, with Leeds and Bradford residents getting early access to put it through its paces, according to the Yorkshire Post.

The test will be rolled out further afield presently, hitting North Yorkshire ahead of its wider availability.

The company has been taking its time with the implementation of the e-commerce platform, in the face of claims from industry observers, who believe that it should have been a lot quicker off the mark to offer safe shopping online.

Morrisons is partnering with established online grocery provider, Ocado, to run the pilot scheme and will also be relying on its infrastructure to fuel the national launch.

Company chief exec, Dalton Philips, has been keen to emphasis the fact that Morrisons is not going to do a half-hearted job of entering the e-commerce market and will, instead, be aiming to make its competitors look bad by comparison.

Speaking at the announcement of the trial scheme, Philips explained that there will be a high level of customisation available to people who order online. He gave the example of being able to specify the thickness of a steak which is bought from the e-commerce site, just as they would be able to do with the in-store butchery.

Half of British households will be within areas covered by Morrisons' e-commerce delivery service by the end of next year, although the results of the trial scheme will be interesting to see, as they could reflect on how the rest of the rollout will progress.