Morrisons, the UK’s fourth largest food retailer with 429 stores, will use Kiddicare’s technology platform as a foundation to develop a non-food online business, according to a statement from the retailer. It expects to launch its first products on the platform next year.

Kiddicare will continue to trade separately and with the same management. The baby product retailer secures 80 per cent of its sales through its online channel and operates a nursery equipment store in Peterborough.

Dalton Philips, chief executive of Morrisons comments: ‘This acquisition brings not only a respected, successful and fast growing specialist retailer into the Morrisons group but also a robust, scalable and highly advanced technology platform around which we can begin to build our e-commerce offer.’

Founded in 1974, Kiddicare reported a turnover of £37.5 million for the last financial year and has seen sales growth of 75 per cent in the last three years. It currently serves 40,000 customers a month.