End of the supermarket? Big brands sign up for high-tech service that could cut prices by a third

By  Katie Morley, Consumer Affairs Editor - November 01, 2017 (www.telegraph.co.uk)

Hundreds of household favourites including Weetabix, Walls ice cream, Dettol, Durex condoms and Dolmio sauces could soon be available to buy at much lower prices. Credit: PA

Britain's biggest food and household goods brands have signed up to a new shopping service which claims it can slash grocery bills by 30 per cent by cutting out supermarkets.

Manufacturing giants Unilever, Mars, and Reckitt Benckiser, have all signed agreements to say they intend to start selling items directly to consumers through a high-tech digital platform which is launching in the UK next year.

It means hundreds of household favourites including Weetabix, Walls ice cream, Dettol, Durex condoms and Dolmio sauces could soon be available to buy at much lower prices.

The grocery service, designed by tech company INS, is set to pilot in 2018 and is expected to be part of a new wave of shopping firms offering a radically different way for consumers to shop.

Unlike supermarkets, which negotiate prices of goods with manufacturers, the website will let brands decide their own prices.

It will...