Ocado to harness inventive high street presence

Friday, August 26, 2011 - 11:55 by Graham Miller

Online grocery delivery firm Ocado is moving into the high street, but not in the traditional manner of setting up a bricks and mortar shop.

Instead the company is combining m-commerce, e-commerce and a large scale video wall at the One New Change shopping mall in London.

Owners of the Apple iPhone or an Android-based smartphone can download the Ocado to Go application to their handsets. Then using the video wall they can select the items they want to order and use their mobile's built-in camera to snap a picture of the accompanying barcode to compile a shopping list.

The orders will then be placed via safe shopping online, allowing consumers to continue browsing the various retail outlets in the centre without having to lug bags around with them or worry about things melting in the boot of the car.

Ocado spokesperson, Ben Lovett, said that the term window shopping was being taken to a whole new level with this intelligent shopping experience.

In fact Ocado is not the first major retailer to use m-commerce and video walls in tandem. Tesco has enacted the same thing, albeit in South Korea and not the UK, which make Ocado's work here a unique opportunity for British consumers.

One New Change shopping centre can be found close to St Paul's Cathedral in the capital and it will be possible to use the wall 24 hours a day for safe shopping online until September 1st.

Ocado is describing the initiative as a 'virtual pop-up shop' and if this trial proves to be a success then other retail outlets around the country might feature similar installations in the future.

Ocado might even start utilising existing video walls and screens, such as those on the London Underground system, to enable shopping whilst on the move.