A new e-commerce platform for c-store retailers is set to launch next month - the latest in a string of attempts to get the sector trading online.

Scheduled to launch on Monday 9 December, CornershopOnline.co.uk hopes to give c-stores a web presence. It will host deals and shoppers will be able to choose click & collect or delivery, which will be free if they spend more than £25.

The site will launch in a pilot stage with five retailers from Tyne and Wear, Canterbury, Sheffield, Leeds and York - two Londis stores, a Budgens, a Premier store and a Costcutter. It hopes to sign up 100 retailers by the end of next year.

Founder Purdeep Haire, who is funding the venture through his own private investment, has experience operating a c-store. He admitted that “getting convenience retailers online is a nightmare”.

However, he said there was appetite across the c-store sector for an e-commerce platform, adding that the site could tap into shoppers’ desire to support their local economy.

“If you speak to the symbols they will say it won’t work but what we’re finding is there’s a disconnect between the symbols and what their retailers want,” he said.

The site will work by listing local retailers by postcode. Shoppers will get free local delivery for orders over £25 or can reserve their shopping through click & collect.

Retailers will be charged £250 for a sign-up fee, £250 a year for site maintenance and 50p per transaction. The sign-up fee will be waived for the first 100 retailers to sign up to the scheme.

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