Monday 28 September 2015 10:28 am

Aldi is launching online shopping in 2016, taking on Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons in e-commerce, as discount supermarket reports record UK sales

Aldi will venture into online shopping for the first time with plans to sell wine online from early 2016, taking on rivals Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons on new territory.

Further non-food "special buys" will follow, and customers will have the choice of having items delivered to their homes or picking them up from third-party locations.

The expansion plans came as Aldi reported record UK and Ireland sales of £6.89bn in 2014, a jump of 31 per cent on last year. Profits at the discounter, which is giving the big four British supermarkets a run for their money, slipped four per cent to £260.3m.

“Our launch online is another exciting chapter in our story. This will enable us to introduce the Aldi brand and some of our best-selling, best-quality and best-value products to thousands more customers across the UK,” said Aldi's UK and Ireland chief executive Matthew Barnes.

Net assets stood at £2bn, an increase of seven per cent, which the supermarket said will underpin further investment in the UK market. Investment in the stores and distribution centres jumped to a record £438m, a 59 per cent rise on the previous year. It plans to open 65 new stores by the end of 2015.

“We refuse to be beaten on price by anyone. We’re maintaining a significant price gap of at least 15 per cent on an average basket of goods – people are seeing that value at the checkout, tasting the quality at home and coming back to do a full weekly shop, time and time again," said Barnes.

“As the grocery market continues to evolve, our unique model, operational efficiency, private ownership and financial strength mean we’re able to keep investing in our business – from people and presence to products and prices.”

Aldi has maintained double-digit growth in sales, according to the latest figures from Kantar, while the big four continue to suffer.