Morrisons is set to invest £100m into its convenience offering and open 70 new c-stores over the next two years.

This focus on the convenience channel was in response to changing shopping habits and the fact that the sector is growing at twice the rate of the rest of the UK retail market, chief executive Dalton Philips said.

“Customers are seeking easier ways to shop and want to be able to top up on items they need without having to travel to their nearest large supermarket,” he said.

The convenience sector was currently lacking a quality offering, he added. “We believe that no one else is currently offering a truly great convenience shopping experience - too often convenience is about compromise - poor quality, bad value and limited choice,” he said.

Morrisons currently has three M Local convenience stores in its estate that focus on fresh food and scratch cooking. Although the supermarket chain did not release sales figures for the three M Local stores in its end of year results, it said that they were performing ahead of expectations.

Morrisons reported a 7% increase in turnover to the year ending January 29, 2012 with like-for-like sales up 1.8%.

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