After two decades, Ocado Group is entering an exciting new chapter in its history, while staying true to the ambitions, ideals and values that have led us to such success so far.
As true pioneers of the online grocery market, we’ve blazed a trail through an increasingly digital world, both leading and benefiting from the fast-increasing consumer shift to online shopping. At the heart of it all lies our technological know-how and unparalleled IP.
Our combined expertise and capabilities underpin the continued evolution of the Ocado Retail Limited platform, which has seen it become the biggest grocery retailer of its kind in the world. We're now taking those same unique qualities to help our partners around the world reach similar heights, through our Ocado Solutions business.
Our solution is built for online grocery and we’re changing the way the world shops as a result.
Our aim is for consumers the world over to be able to shop online in the way that is most convenient for them, based on their individual needs and by employing our ever-evolving technologies. Our functionality works across a spectrum of customer interfaces, including mobile and Alexa voice-activated systems.
Our business is built on finding solutions, so our people – those who do the finding – are critical when it comes to us achieving our goals. That’s why we identify and develop the highest quality talent required to take every aspect of the Ocado business to bold new heights.
For example, we hired almost 500 technology colleagues in 2020 to increase the pace we evolve our technology. Each of them works under our technology leadership team, who are tasked with ensuring that we generate value in both the short and the long term. It’s also their job to ensure that our technology is still relevant and keeping us ahead of the market – today, and in the future.
The Ocado Smart Platform provides what we believe to be the most advanced and efficient end-to-end service of its kind in the world.
The automated fulfilment that takes place in Customer Fulfilment Centres is powered by a market-leading physical infrastructure solution, combined with algorithms that shorten lead-times and improve accuracy. The modular format and cloud-based architecture ensure that the solution is scalable and continuously updateable.
We work with grocery retailers across the world who recognise that we can help them succeed like no other company in the online space. Our Solutions business offers them a full-service proposition: a front-end interface for ordering; automated fulfilment through our CFCs; last-mile operations for delivery… All underpinned by our proprietary technology, the Ocado Smart Platform.
Transforming into the Ocado of tomorrow
We’re in an exciting period of transformational change at Ocado. We're seeing significant developments in our Solutions business, while our Retail business continues to grow as part of a new joint venture with M&S. We're also continuing to invest in and advance the Ocado Smart Platform (OSP). The increase in the value of the Company is reflected in its climb up the FTSE 100 index rankings, a significant achievement for such a young company.
As we look to the future, we see untold opportunities opening up, based on the strong foundations that our success so far has created.
The uniquely flexible Ocado Smart Platform allows our partners to serve a full range of customer missions, supported by proprietary technology which is constantly evolving thanks to our growing capacity to innovate. We believe strongly that our platform will help our partners deliver a market-leading service to their customers, as the very promising initial results from our partners Groupe Casino and Sobeys have shown.
Tim Steiner, CEO
A snapshot of the Ocado Group today
What does it mean to be a successful business in the complex, ever-changing world we operate in?
Of course the financial bottom line is important, and the profitability of Ocado Retail Limited continues to demonstrate that it’s possible to make money in online food retail. But just as there are many other facets to our business, so too are there many other metrics by which we measure our success: from sustainable initiatives to satisfied customers, from technological advances to sealed Solutions deals.
Our aim from launch was to create the best grocery shopping experience for UK retail customers, and at the core of this is our joint venture with M&S. Powered by our unique technology, we aim to deliver:
Our aim is to create the best platform for retailers around the world who are looking to build winning e-commerce operations. We aim to deliver:
Find out why we're called 'Ocado'. We share three facts about our name and how our identity has evolved over the past 20 years.
Ocado was established in the UK in 2000 and listed on the London Stock Exchange in July 2010. There have been a few other significant milestones along the way…
Our strategy
We founded Ocado in 2000 with one clear aim in mind: to change the way the world shops
Pioneering the future
Our founding vision was to change grocery retail forever through sustained technology innovation
