Hatfield, UK: Ocado has one million customers queuing up to join its online grocery service but is restricted by its lack of warehousing and delivery network, according to an article in the Guardian.
Ocado chief executive Tim Steiner said Ocado, which has about 800,000 customers, could have increased sales more than five times over, given the level of demand during the coronavirus pandemic, but had been held back by the limits of its warehouses and delivery network.
Steiner said online grocery shopping would become mainstream, taking enough sales away from physical stores to make some “economically challenged”.
Thomas Brereton at GlobalData told the Guardian that Ocado’s need to build warehouses, because it does not have a network of stores to deliver groceries from, is slowing its growth.
He said that Ocado’s need to concentrate on moving from its partnership with Waitrose to a new one with Marks & Spencer from September would also limit its ability to capitalise on the rapid growth in the market.
