Ocado to zoom groceries to your door – in just 30 minutes

[ad_1]

Ocado to zoom groceries to your door – in just 30 minutes: Online grocer will open 12 rapid delivery sites in London before rolling service out across UK

Ocado will open 12 rapid delivery sites allowing customers to receive their groceries in just 30 minutes.

The online supermarket has been trialling the service – called Ocado Zoom – in west London.

But it is looking for a dozen sites in the capital – making the service available to millions.

Fast food: Online supermarket Ocado has been trialling a 30 minute delivery service ¿ called Ocado Zoom ¿ in west London and is now looking for a dozen sites in the capital

Fast food: Online supermarket Ocado has been trialling a 30 minute delivery service – called Ocado Zoom – in west London and is now looking for a dozen sites in the capital

The company will then look to roll out the service out to other parts of the country. Ocado posted booming lockdown growth as middle-class families flocked online to shop.

Its sales rose 40 per cent to £599million in the 13 weeks to February 28 as the family lockdown basket swelled to £147, up from £110 before Covid.

Bosses hailed a ‘dramatic and permanent’ shift towards online shopping, but shares tumbled 4.9 per cent to 1980p – their lowest since July. 

Investors balked as the 2.5 per cent increase in order numbers to 329,000 per week was below analysts’ predictions.

But Marks & Spencer products made up a quarter of customers’ baskets, and the number of shoppers battling for Ocado slots rocketed after the tie-up launched in September.

Chief executive Tim Steiner said: ‘Over the last 12 months, there has been a dramatic and permanent shift towards online grocery shopping around the world. We’re registering more customers every week than we can serve, and that has accelerated since we launched M&S.’

He also dismissed the threat of losing ground to Amazon calling the online giant a ‘very small competitor’ that had ‘negligible’ market share.

Ocado hopes its rapid delivery service, which enables customers able to buy between £15 and £250 worth of food, will further boost its prospects.

Each site can reach customers who live within three miles, and will generate between £20million and £25million of sales per year.

The range is smaller than the Ocado.com website, with the company offering 10,000 products compared with 49,000 on the main site.

Advertisement

[ad_2]

Leave a Reply