Morrisons gears up for online launch
SUPERMARKET group Morrisons said today it will roll out its online food deliveries early next year and expects to be serving more than 50% of UK homes by the end of 2014.
The announcement came as the Bradford-based chain unveiled a disappointing set of results for the 13 weeks to November 3, which saw total store sales excluding fuel up by 1.0% (up 0.1% including fuel) with like for like sales down 2.4% (down 3.0% including fuel).
Morrisons said that its low exposure to the sector’s key growth areas of convenience and online continues to impact the sales performance of the group, however it said it is progressing well with its plans to develop a significant presence in these channels.
From January, Morrisons will start online food deliveries in Warwickshire followed by an extension to Yorkshire shortly thereafter, using a delivery spoke in Leeds.
Chief executive Dalton Philips said: “We continue to grow our sales in this tough market whilst making great progress on our strategy to be a multi-channel retailer. I said at the outset that our online offer would be unmistakably Morrisons and I’m very confident that the service we unveil in January will live up to that promise.
“Many of our customers will be able to experience our distinctive online food service early in the new year and we expect to be able to serve 50% of UK homes by the end of the year. In convenience we are currently opening three M locals a week bringing the Morrisons brand to an ever increasing number of new customers.”
It said that consumer confidence “remains subdued” and it continues to see heavy promotional activity across the industry.
Morrisons opened a further 36 M local convenience stores during the quarter bringing the total to 69 across the country, of which around half are in London and the South East, an important growth area for Morrisons.
“We are pleased with their performance and remain on track to have 100 M local stores open by the end of the current year. We confirm today that our target is to open a further 100 M locals in 2014/15. Our new distribution centre in Bury is now operational and will support the expansion of our convenience network in the North West.”
Morrisons said the financial position of the group remains strong with group net debt of £2.7bn.
“We expect the market to remain challenging for the remainder of the year and continue to manage the business tightly. Our performance in the third quarter was in line with our expectations and accordingly our financial outlook for the full year remains unchanged,” Morrisons said.
