After a seven-year hiatus, supermarket Iceland is due to relaunch its online shopping service. A spokesperson confirmed that Iceland will begin a trial in early 2013.
Back in 1999, Iceland was the first supermarket to offer internet shopping, and although it was marginally profitable, it was axed in 2005 as part of owner Malcolm Walker’s drive to simplify the
near-bankrupt business on his return after four years away.
Iceland currently makes some 175,000 home deliveries a week through its delivery service for in-store purchases and says the infrastructure is in place to reinstate an online shopping facility.
It is among only a handful of large food retailers yet to launch an online grocery service. Another supermarket with a notable eCommerce absence is Morrisons. Delivering the company’s most
recent annual results, chairman Sir Ian Gibson said that as sales of general merchandise shift away from “big box” supermarkets to online, Morrisons’ future for non-food is in “clicks not bricks”. He added, “To serve more customers, more of the time, we need to be multiformat and multichannel, tailoring our offer to suit the needs of different customers.”
Morrisons took its first step into online grocery in 2011 through the acquisition of New York-based Fresh Direct. And although it believes no UK retailer has yet “achieved the right balance
of service to customers and profitable returns for shareholders”, Morrisons says it will outline its plans for online food towards the end of fiscal 2012/13.
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