Welcome to this week's round up of supermarket news that has caught my attention.

Morrisons set for online launch Morrison will start selling groceries online for the first time come next year. In so doing, it will compete alongside Tesco, Sainsbury, Asda and Ocado for people’s online spend. In the meantime, Co-Op is considering whether to begin trialling an online offering.

Supermarkets to benefit as mobile operators seek new revenue streams With mobile carriers’ revenues under pressure, carriers are looking for new streams of income. Sale of user data is likely to provide one such stream, and O2 owner Telefonica has set up a company to sell this data to retailers, thus providing opportunities to supermarkets to provide more relevant and personalised communications and offers. Read more here.

Waterstones launches new ad campaign Under continued pressure from online sellers, most obviously Amazon, Waterstones has announced an upcoming ad campaign stressing the value and experience of high street bookshops. They will feature statements such as: “Books you can’t put down are much easier to find when you can actually pick them up,” and “Even the most ardent reader will never reach the end of a good bookshop,”

Supermarket own groceries tend to be cheaper. So why do people continue to buy branded products? A quick survey of our Street members found that people continue to buy branded groceries partly because of routine, experimenting to see which brand is best for them, and perceived better taste and quality. I find the routine reason interesting, because it is often this that is most difficult to break.

Tesco to ‘start getting personal’ Tesco chief executive Philip Clarke has said that retailers need to “get personal” with their customers in order to stay relevant in a changing digital landscape, and create closer links with suppliers to develop innovation.

His message is vital, but also is the in-store experience, which explains why Tesco is investing huge amounts of money on new staff, training, and in-store design.

Supermarkets need to compete on more than price Many shoppers are bewildered by a massive array of supermarket promotions. This is set to continue unless supermarkets effectively compete around other features and experiences.

From 1,001 shoppers polled by IGD ShopperVista, 44% found it difficult to compare prices due to information overload. Supermarket chiefs have been talking change this week during an IGD convention. But it needs to be enacted for customers to notice the difference.

Sainsbury’s joins Tesco and Waitrose on scan and shop trials Sainsbury’s is trialling a new app through which customers can scan and shop with their smartphones. Shoppers will use a QR reader to ‘check in’ when they enter a store. They will then scan items as they go round. Once they are at the checkout, they will pay at a regular till without having to have their items scanned.

Gok Wan and Sainsbury’s in new Tu clothing deal We have an upcoming supermarket fashion study, so I was interested in news that Sainsbury’s has extended its partnership with Gok Wan for another year. Wan launched his first range with Sainsbury’s last year, and will launch five more collections over the next twelve months or so.

That's it. Have a good weekend.