Ocado Retail boss to step down as online grocer begins hunt for new CEO July 19, 2022 Ocado Retail has said its CEO Melanie Smith will step down next month, after three years at the helm of the business. Former deputy CEO of the company, Lawrence Hene, will take over on an interim basis while a hunt for a permanent replacement takes place. The supermarket has struggled with waning average basket spending [...]
Ocado buys robotics start-up for $10.2m as online retail giant eyes automating grocery pick-ups May 23, 2022 Online grocer Ocado has inked a deal to buy a materials handling robotics start-up for $10.2m. In a deal worth the equivalent of £8.11m, Ocado has agreed to buy Myrmex, it announced on Monday. The UK supermarket snapped up a minority stake in the Athens-based firm in 2020. Myrmex was instructed to develop a programme [...]
Ocado pays out £20k following fire safety resignation April 17, 2022 Ocado is set to fork out £20,000 in damages after a former employee raised alarms about warehouse fire safety issues. The company is facing allegations that the worker was forced out of his job after he said the cardboard materials and pallets blocked fire exits. The Telegraph reported that court documents said a “witch hunt” [...]
Shoppers spend less at Ocado after offices reopen and Covid measures ease March 17, 2022 Ocado customers are spending less through the online grocery delivery service as pandemic habits return to normal. In an eight week trading update, Ocado said its average basket size came in at £124, 15 per cent lower than last year. This was reflective of changing shopper behaviours as customers return to physical supermarkets and offices. [...]
Ocado shares plummet 10 per cent as investors show anxiety towards ‘resilient’ growth February 8, 2022 Ocado’s shares are taking a beating this afternoon, with investors appearing unimpressed by group revenue and international expansion. Despite the online retailer reporting that group revenue was up 7.2 per cent to £2.5bn for the full year, shares plummeted as much as ten per cent this morning. It comes after Ocado, which is a 50:50 [...]
Open warfare: Ocado claims Autostore is lying while rival says online grocer’s IP rights are ‘invalid’ January 31, 2022 The war of words between Ocado and its rival Autostore reached new heights today as Ocado accused Autostore of misleading investors over its legal battle with the online grocer in Germany. Autostore issued an update on the Norwegian stock market on Monday claiming that a judge in a Mannheim Court said Ocado’s intellectual property rights [...]
Ocado anticipates ‘best-ever Christmas’ as it eyes new Zoom site openings December 14, 2021 Ocado has forecast its “best-ever Christmas ahead” and said it anticipated mid-teens sales growth for 2022. In a trading update for the 13 weeks to 28 November, the grocer said there was “strong momentum in under-lying demand”. It posted retail revenue of £547.8m for the quarter. This was compared to £570.1m in the same period [...]
Ocado Zoom workers call to be made dependent contractors October 26, 2021 Ocado drivers have demanded the grocer bring in couriers in house on restructured contracts. Drivers in Acton, West London said they wanted to be employed as Limb B workers – dependent contractors – as it was a “flexible employment model that works perfectly for the ad hoc, on demand business.” In a letter to board [...]
Ocado invests £10m into self-driving tech startup Wayve October 6, 2021 Self-driving tech startup Wayve’s total funding raised has hit $60m following an investment from grocer Ocado. Ocado is investing £10m ($13.6m) in a partnership with Wayve that will develop autonomous grocery deliveries. An autonomous delivery trial will involve a number of Ocado delivery vans on busy London routes – with a human driver to oversee [...]
Hot under the collar: Ocado pins revenue tumble on warehouse fire September 14, 2021 Online supermarket Ocado has pinned a revenue dive over the last quarter on a fire at one of its London warehouses, in its latest trading update today. The fire, at its south London Erith Customer Fulfilment Centre in July, cost Ocado some £35m in revenue, it said in a statement – the equivalent of 300,000 [...]