Mintel, a market intelligence firm, released a paid research recently that I saw.
Take-aways:
Domestic expenditure on online grocery shopping was £12.3bn in 2018, up 9% v.s. 2017.
61% of 25-34-year-olds shopped groceries online, v.s. 45% of overall average. So, the online share of the market should be only growing over time.
I like that they invest in their distribution business. I believe there is a huge opportunity there, although there is execution risk - we need to see good, healthy partnerships in action.
Last but not least, Lord Rose sold 150k shares for a cool ~£1.7m. (Do we still do director deals?)
I’ve had some success with Ocado’s mobile site - it seems to work fine at 7 in the morning - I’ve edited an order and setup a new one to arrive in a couple of weeks.
Supermarket bosses are conceding they may struggle to meet their orders, saying there is a ‘real issue when it comes to thinking this can replicate the supply of physical shops’.
An executive of a leading supermarket revealed: ‘It if comes to an emergency situation for the likes of Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s then we’ll share depots and vans. But there may still be a question of manpower.’
The good news is, that like takeaway delivery companies, supermarkets are allowing contactless deliveries during the outbreak. Most major supermarkets are members of the British Retail Consortium, who have issued some advice. Andrew Opie, Director of Food & Sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, said: ‘Most BRC members are more than happy for the majority of online deliveries to be delivered on doorsteps when customers have suggested that they are self-isolating.
‘Despite difficult times, retailers strive to provide the best service for their customers, both online and in-store and are working as hard as they can to ensure consumers have access to whatever products they want.’
So much for being a tech company with advanced robotics.
If they aren’t able to scale - both physically and on the cloud - that’s an opportunity lost. They, perhaps, have been too small vs the Tescos and relied on other partners for groceries.
Online supermarket Ocado has reported a jump in sales as demand for home delivery soars amid the coronavirus crisis.
Ocado said sales had doubled in the second quarter compared to the previous period as shoppers made bigger and more frequent orders as they stockpiled goods.
Is there anything to like about Ocado structurally or is it mostly down to this “one-off” rush to use it while we can walk to grocery stores ourselves?
Thanks 