According to one
forecast, UK online grocery shopping will reach almost 10 billion pounds by 2015, about twice the amount that UK shoppers spend today. No wonder so many supermarket chains are fighting for position in such a potentially lucrative market.
Morrisons is the #4 UK grocery firm and, until now, it has not been very active in online grocery sales/delivery. The company just invested in the very successful US company
Fresh Direct, which has a fresh approach to the online grocery business. In addition to the usual farm-fresh fruits and vegetables, Fresh Direct offers 600 prepared meals, made fresh daily, for the convenience of its customers. It serves the New York City area and is quite profitable, not to mention popular--and it's growing day by day.
If Morrisons can learn lessons from Fresh Direct, it will be better able to battle Ocado, Sainsbury and other rivals active in Internet-based grocery shopping and delivery. Richard Pennycook, finance director for Morrisons, says the firm would only get involved in online grocery sales if it can expect to make a profit: "We will not go into a model where we haven't figured out how it is going to work." Morrisons plans to launch its online site in 2013, if it decides to move ahead.
