Morrisons supermarket says it will extend its opening hours in an effort to attract customers back to it.
It is going for ‘dawn and dusk’ hours, which could be as early as 6am to 11 pm at 230 of its 490 outlets.
The UK’s fourth largest supermarket is keen to stem the dramatic drop in sales. It believes that longer opening times will help modern families with busy schedules.
A recent poll by YouGov found that 20% of shoppers prefer to visit the supermarket before 9am or after 8pm, either because it is "quieter" at these times, or because of work or family obligations.
The supermarket is in the midst of a large-scale restructuring exercise which will see the termination of 2,600 jobs. A modernised IT system will mean that staff will no longer have fill out paper forms to order goods.
Morrisons will also redesign 277 shops and refurbish store cafes.
But it was tardy in offering online shopping and was the last of the four major supermarkets to recognise the demand for groceries to be delivered.
Asda, Tesco, and Morrison have all promised to reduce prices on some products in order to win back shoppers. A recent survey indicated that more than 50% of British shoppers are going to Aldi, Lidl and other food discounters.
