Ocado
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ocado is an internet based grocery retailer in the United Kingdom which sells both name-brand goods and Waitrose own brand goods. Ocado is partly owned by the John Lewis Partnership but remains independent. In contrast to the rivalling home delivery services by Tesco and Sainsbury's, Ocado operates a warehouse based model. It aims to compete on quality rather than price (as with the Waitrose chain itself) and generally matches Waitrose in-store prices.
The company was founded during the internet boom by a group of former Goldman Sachs merchant bankers in partnership with the upmarket Waitrose supermarket chain, and it emphasises this connection in its marketing. It is not very clear why a new brand name was chosen when the Waitrose brand is very strong, and marketing the Ocado brand has been very expensive (however, Waitrose already operated a delivery service called WaitroseDeliver, which may have contributed to this decision). Despite this, it has been reported that the Ocado brand is becoming more popular than the more established Waitrose, 46% of Ocado's shares are owned by Waitrose owners, the John Lewis Partnership.
As of early 2005 the company was widely reported to be a success measured against analyst expectations, and was reported to be hoping to list on the London Stock Exchange during that year. The owners have since revealed that they are not ready to list on the London Stock Exchange at present. Turnover is over £135 million ($260 million) per annum, and it has won several service and quality awards. However it is also reported that it is not yet profitable.
At the beginning of March 2006 Ocado ceased outsourcing their call centre activities to Ireland. All calls are now handled by a dedicated team in Hatfield, England.
In September 2006, Michael Grade became chairman of Ocado.
