The B&M home delivery service will be run for a trial period to assess whether or not there is demand for online purchases.

B&M is trialling a home delivery service for the first time since the business opened its first UK store in 1978.

The online range features 1,000 products, including garden and indoor furniture, electrical equipment and toys and games with the discount retailer expecting the heavier general merchandise products to be most popular as shoppers struggle to transport them themselves.

B&M is also reportedly considering the potential to offer online-only product extensions but said that opportunity would be assessed over time.

Retail Gazette reported B&M digital director Jens Sorensen as saying: “We are incredibly excited to launch our online deliver-to-home service and make life easier for customers that love the range of discounted products from B&M but haven’t been able to purchase from store. We’re continually developing and improving the offering available to customers, and creating this more accessible shopping experience is a fantastic step forward for the business.”

He added: “It’s been an incredibly exciting launch to work on and we’re so happy that customers are now able to start using the transactional website and have access to products they wouldn’t have been able to in the past.”

Outgoing B&M CEO Simon Arora outlined the online plans in the company’s annual report, published yesterday (22nd June).

“The B&M website has not historically been transactional, instead acting as a footfall driver into stores and a channel through which to engage with an online community of customers,” he said. “All that remains true. However, at the time of writing an online home delivery service will shortly be launched on a limited range of items. This trial will ultimately extend across circa 1,000 SKUs representing in part bulkier or higher ticket general merchandise items, which customers cannot always easily transport home from stores themselves, or products that do not require disproportionate mail order packaging. Given the disruptive B&M price position, the business believes this could prove an attractive proposition for customers.”

The CEO added that the business was “open minded as to the long-term potential of the trial, and a ‘test and learn’ approach will be adopted over the coming months as customer response is closely monitored”.