Morrisons has taken a further step down the road to online trading through a deal with kitchenware and home shopping operator Lakeland.

A new website is to be launched this Spring featuring products from Windermere-based Lakeland at Morrisons.com.

It will be the Bradford-based retailer’s third transactional website following the launch of its online wine business MorrisonsCellar.com in November, 2012, and the acquisition of baby care retailer Kiddicare.com in 2011.

Morrisons has come under pressure from commentators and City analysts for its lack of online operations which saw the company become one of the high street losers over the festive period when it saw like-for-like store sales drop by 2.5 per cent following a 2.1 per cent decline in the previous quarter of 2012.

Chief executive Dalton Philips described Christmas trading as disappointing but said he would not be rushed into rolling out online trading.

He wants to ensure Morrisons gets the IT and service levels right and said the group could gain “late mover advantage” by learning from the mistakes of those who have gone before.

Mr Philips said the partnership with Lakeland was the latest step in Morrisons’ strategy of expanding its non-food business online to allow its supermarkets to remain focused on fresh food, although kitchenware, along with wine, were closely aligned to food.

Lakeland was one of the first retailers to move into home shopping through its catalogue business, which started in the 1970s.

Mr Philips said: “We believe the future for retailing many non-food products is online rather than in supermarkets. Morrisons customers are used to buying great fresh food and this venture will also ensure they can prepare it with great kitchenware from Morrisons.com.

“We decided to work with Lakeland because it has spent 50 years selling reliable kitchenware for cooks of all standards.”

Lakeland’s managing director Sam Rayner said: “Lakeland are delighted to have the opportunity to offer our products for sale on Morrisons.com.

“This is a unique opportunity for us to work closely with one of the UK's leading grocers and we see a lot of opportunity in the links between our respective products and services. We are looking forward to delivering our practical and innovative kitchenware to Morrisons customers.”

Lakeland's range of kitchenware will sit alongside Morrisons’ existing range of household goods. Initially, fulfilment of orders will be undertaken by Lakeland but in time it will be done by Morrisons.

Two years ago Morrisons paid £70 million for Kiddicare, whose systems are highly regarded by IT giants IBM and Microsoft.

The move was seen as taking the quick route into online trading, using proven expertise and technology. Morrisons is also rolling out a ten-strong chain of Kiddicare stores, the first one of which is near Nottingham was fitted out by Bradford-based PEC Construction.

The stores were previously owned by electronics retailer Best Buy but were closed after heavy losses.

Morrisons was advised on the deal by Andy Brian, a solicitor in the corporate and commercial contracts team of Bradford and Leeds law firm Gordons.