Ocado Promises Delivery of Online Orders in an Hour

Thursday, February 7, 2019 - 09:52 by Graham Miller

Web-based grocery delivery service Ocado has revealed that it will be testing out a new solution known as Zoom which will allow customers in certain parts of the UK to order food via safe shopping online and have it delivered to their doorstep in under 60 minutes, according to Internet Retailing.

Shoppers in West London will be amongst the first to gain access to this option, and while the number of products available will be lower than with a standard delivery, there will still be around 10,000 different items available for one-hour delivery.

Company spokesperson Time Steiner said that the trial version of Ocado Zoom will be rolling out in March this year, complete with its own separate website that targets consumers who are looking for an almost instant approach to online grocery shopping.

In order to make its aims of delivery in 60 minutes a reality, Ocado will be setting up small fulfilment hubs in heavily populated areas which can act as the base of operations for the new ambitious scheme.

Ultimately, this could be seen as the grocery equivalent of ordering a takeaway: local outlets on consumers’ doorsteps are spread across the country and it is easy to use web to buy products and expect delivery within a short space of time.

Rival retailers like Amazon have already introduced one-hour delivery as well as same-day delivery services. However, few are able to compete with Ocado in terms of the scope of what it hopes to offer, specifically with relation to the range of products that will be available to purchase.

Whether consumers actually want this kind of speedy delivery for groceries remains to be seen, but it certainly makes sense for those last-minute items to round out evening meals.