A new internet shopping service will be launched in the autumn by Appleby Westward, Spar's wholesaler for the West Country. Speaking at the first meeting of Spar's Wessex Guild, Appleby Westward md Peter Kealy told delegates it would be launching a service called Spar Deli. He explained: "Through the internet we will give customers the opportunity to order their lunch requirement and pick it up later at their local store." The system has been developed in Ireland by BWG, Appleby Westward's parent company and the Spar operator in the Irish Republic, and is already in operation in several Spar stores in Dublin. Kealy said: "BWG has invested £60,000-£70,000 in the project, and we will have the opportunity to try it out." Pilot schemes will be introduced in stores near universities and colleges. Kealy said there were promising sites in Bristol, Plymouth and possibly Bournemouth. He said the scheme would be attractive to customers and retailers because orders could be made up in the quieter hours during the morning, and would cut down on queuing in the busy lunchtime period. Kealy also revealed the company would be introducing a more competitive price matrix. He explained: "For instance, if we have a local supermarket it needs to sell non food cheaper than a c-store, but a petrol forecourt would need to be competitive on tobacco. We will sell it to them more cheaply, but we will insist that they sellit lower too. "We will introduce competitive pricing by product group to maximise sales and maximise margins." Suppliers were told by trading director Nigel Taylor they needed to do more to help Appleby Westward achieve the ambitious targets revealed by other speakers. He told them: "You need to be more flexible and more proactive in servicing us. We need 100% service levels from you, or we cannot hope to provide 99% service levels to our retailers." {{NEWS }}

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