Supermarket chain Waitrose is trialling a new ‘rapid’ delivery service for customers who order edible items via safe shopping online, promising to deliver within two hours for those in a handful of London areas.

Internet Retailing reports that this small scale scheme could ultimately be expanded to other parts of the capital and the country if it proves to be a success.

There are a few limitations on this service, as it will not be designed to replace a full grocery shop, but is instead aimed at the convenience market.

For one thing, customers will only be able to add a maximum of 20 products to their basket, with the compatible products restricted to 1500 different options. This will help Waitrose to fulfil its promises of incredibly speedy delivery without getting overburdened.

There is also a lower limit on the amount that customers need to spend to be eligible for this service. So long as £10 worth of products are purchased, the rapid delivery option will be available.

In addition a charge for delivery of £5 will be applied, no matter how many items are snapped up via safe shopping online.

Waitrose commissioned recent research which found that 66 per cent of shoppers make multiple daily trips to supermarkets and convenience stores, suggesting that there is a niche in the market which this quick delivery platform will be able to fill.

The deliveries themselves will either be made via van, or through the use of bike courier in the case that the order is light enough to transport on two wheels rather than four.

Should Waitrose succeed with its trial, then other supermarkets like Tesco could follow suit, although it is likely that two hour delivery will only be available in the most heavily populated parts of the UK.