Ocado is planning on expanding its same-day delivery options to create more slots for customers as it faces growing pressures from part-owner M&S to start showing signs of a turnaround.
Although the online grocer does have same-day delivery options in most locations across the UK, its availability is limited to a few thousand each week.
It is believed that its focus will be on getting shoppers to order larger deliveries for same-day slots, rather than just last-minute ingredients which are typically sold on delivery apps.
Hannah Gibson, who took over Ocado Retail last September, has been tasked with turning the business around and is understood to see same-day delivery as an area where the business can make improvements.
The focus should not come as a surprise, given Gibson was instrumental in the development of Ocado-owned rapid delivery app Zoom.
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Although according to the Telegraph, M&S insiders are watching closely, cautious that the economics around rapid delivery have so far failed to add up.
Deliveroo are a prime example, not being able to turn a profit in the 10 years since its launch.
To make same-day work, one M&S source told the title, operators either need to sell at premium prices or sell larger orders, with the race not so much for market share but to find a suitable operating model.
Andy Adcock, a retail veteran and former food managing director at M&S, told the Telegraph that Ocado’s shift to same-day could mean local convenience stores lose out.
But he does not believe this will impact M&S food halls as its customers are “very much same-day shoppers anyway”.
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