The boss of Morrisons’ new online grocery operation says today’s launch of deliveries to the Bradford-based retailer’s heartland will put it nearly halfway towards reaching half of UK households by the end of this year.

Delivery vans started rolling out from the Birstall depot early this morning to households in Bradford, Skipton and other parts of Yorkshire, with deliveries to shoppers who have been placing orders on Morrisons.com.

Simon Thompson, head of online food, said the Birstall hub will supply about eight per cent of the company’s online sales and the expansion into Yorkshire will see Morrisons achieving about 40 per cent of its intended coverage for 2014.

The roll-out in Yorkshire has created nearly 100 jobs for delivery staff.

Among those awaiting their first delivery was Cathy Barnes, Professor of Retail Innovation at Leeds Metropolitan University, who says being late to the online party could work to Morrisons advantage.

Describing herself as a “huge advocate of online shopping to save valuable time”, Prof Barnes said: “Enter Morrisons, a latecomer to the digital revolution. All eyes are now on whether they can operate a successful home delivery service. Other supermarkets have been doing this for some years and, by and large, have satisfied customers.

“So will they deliver? Time will tell, but by being late to the party Morrisons have the opportunity to learn from the mistakes of the past and become a true Omni Channel Retailer.”

Mr Thompson is bullish about the prospects for the online operation following its launch in the Midlands at the beginning of January, where sales volumes have exceeded expectations.

“We have been most encouraged by sales over the first three weeks which have been better than expected and I believe we’ll be able to say we are ‘doubly most encouraged’ following the move into our Yorkshire heartland,” he said.

Morrisons’ first task is to woo the 30 per cent of its store customers – about three million people a week – who have been forced to use competitors’ online services due to Morrisons’ absence from the market. This has been costing the company £500 million a year in lost sales, according to chief executive Dalton Philips.

Mr Thompson says Morrisons is listening to feedback while helping with deliveries has enabled him the sharpen up Morrisons’ online offer and make it efficient and customer focused.

The Doorstep Check feature enables customers to reject unsatisfactory fresh products at no cost and receive a voucher to the value of the item. Mr Thompson says returns have been minimal to date.

Online orders are picked from depots so do not interfere with stores. Customers can choose a delivery time within a one-hour timeframe and pay between £1 and £5.

Mr Thompson says Morrisons, which specialises in processing and selling fresh food, aims to change the make-up of online grocery orders with more fresh produce than other supermarkets whose deliveries are mainly ‘ambient’ goods such as cereals.