Iceland is planning to launch an ecommerce website in the New Year.
Trials of an internet shopping site are expected to be held early next year, eight years after the supermarket closed a similar venture – because not enough customers had computers.
A spokesman for Iceland told Internet Retailing: “We are looking to reinstate a home shopping service with a pilot service to be launched early next year.” It has not yet been decided whether the pilot will cover a limited geographical area or will be a national service to a limited number of shoppers.
Iceland first launched an online home shopping service in 1999 but it was scrapped in 2005 because it was only “marginally profitable”.
Since then it has offered a home delivery service for goods purchased in store, which currently makes about 175,000 deliveries a week.
Iceland chief executive Malcolm Walker told The Grocer: “We were one of the pioneers for online shopping when we launched in 1999, and it was marginally profitable. But at that time few of our customers had a computer and there was no broadband.
“Now all of our customers have a computer, and they ask us to bring back online shopping on a daily basis.”
The new service will extend a home delivery from store service that currently makes about 175,000 deliveries a week.
