Kmart launched online shopping in New Zealand this morning.

The retailer promises 2-4 day delivery for urban addresses, opening up its catalogue for home delivery.

The Australian retailer confirmed plans for online shopping were in the works in June last year.

They has previously said it intended on operating 30 stores in New Zealand by 2020 and would be building two to three new ones every year.

Analyst Chris Wilkinson from First Retail Group said the launch was an interesting move.

"A key thing in online retail is being able to demonstrate range and availability," he said. But that doesn't necessarily translate into online sales.

"Seventy per cent of consumer decisions are digitally influenced," Wilkinson said, "but people will often use online shopping to pre-validate their decisions and go to stores to buy."

However, Wilkinson said people would travel far distances to shop at Kmart, especially in the South Island, because of its "aspirational" homeware range, and those people may now buy online instead.

Wilkinson didn't anticipate much effect on competitor, the Warehouse, saying it already has a fairly good online presence.