The Co-operative Group has launched a new bicycle online delivery service, in its first foray into online shopping.

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The service will initially be available to shoppers within a four kilometre radius of the Kings Road store in Chelsea before being rolled out to a further eight London stores.

It enables consumers to order products at www.shop.coop.co.uk and receive delivery by zero emission electric cargo bikes within two hours at an allocated time.

The Co-op Group said it had plans to make online shopping available in “a significant number of UK towns and cities”.

Co-op head of food digital, Chris Conway, said: “This is an exciting time for the Co-op, with trials underway on a number of new, online initiatives. As the leaders in convenience shopping we want to look at different ways of bringing our award-winning products closer to shoppers, and this new service does exactly that.”

Consumers will initially be charged a standard £5 delivery charge, with a £15 minimum spend, but all prices will be the same as they are in stores, and a free click and collect service is available.

E-cargobikes.com managing director, James FitzGerald, said: “We are thrilled that a highly respected national brand like Co-op are demonstrating environmental leadership by launching their online delivery service using e-cargobikes. We are reimagining grocery deliveries and exploring a more sustainable transport system with our e-cargobikes that can do the same job as a van while requiring a fraction of the energy.”