An Irish company is aiming to provide a real "soup to nuts" service - as they say in techie parlance - by developing retail shopping software. Merit Solutions is testing its online supermarket system through Hughes Supermarket in Claregalway. Customers can purchase groceries and a range of products from Hughes's hardware department, including toys, DIY, tools, clothing, footwear and bicycles. The Hughesonline.com site offers a delivery service to Galway city and locations within five miles of the supermarket.

The project started more than a year ago with an engineering design project in NUI Galway. Already Merit Solutions supplies to a number of Spar shops, off-licences and DIY stores in Ireland. The Merit point of sale system was developed by Mr Michael Hughes after he found there was no adequate system available here or in Britain. His integrated Merit Solution converges high-speed scanning units, shop-floor tills, shelf-edge labelling and back-office computing.