Future delivery models are knocking on the door

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In a relatively modest timeframe Ocado has pretty much gone from what some analysts described as zero to the stock-market now pricing it as a hero. From being among the most shorted stocks on the UK market it has moved into the FTSE100 index and arguably become the darling of the UK retail sector following the signing of deals to supply its grocery delivery solutions to some of the world’s leading supermarket businesses.

Ocado robots: changing face of grocery retailing

The latter deal with US giant Kroger is not only potentially transformative for Ocado but also for grocery home delivery because it seems to have given the company the confidence to float a number of new ideas. Applications into the Intellectual Property Office for three new trademarks certainly seems to have whetted the retail industry’s appetite for what the pioneering firm might be planning to launch in the near future.

Its applications relate to the slogans: ‘Ocado Zoom’; ‘Let the shop pop to you’; and ‘Ocado, changing the way the world shops’. These have had industry commentators’ minds racing as they put forward the potential for Ocado to possibly launch a super high-speed delivery service, a treasure truck style proposition similar to that of Amazon or a mobile convenience store rather like that of Moby and Robomart that go to wherever there is customer demand.

At this stage this is clearly nothing more than pure speculation but what we cannot be in any doubt about is that the likes of Ocado – as it battles with leaders such as Amazon – are set to continue to use the latest technologies to push the boundaries of what is possible with delivery.

Services like Click & Collect will continue to be massively important and widely used. Every retailer absolutely has to offer these propositions otherwise they will undoubtedly lose customers. But this won’t be enough.

That’s why as the industry moves forward it is the pioneers such as Ocado, with its new ideas and technologies powering them, which will play an increasing role in providing the delivery solutions of the future.

Glynn Davis, editor of Retail Insider

K3 Retail partners with businesses to provide connected technologies based on Microsoft Dynamics 365 so retailers can reach their goals now and in the future. In a size that best fits future plans wherever you need it – Cloud, Hybrid or On-premise. Our solutions drive more than 800 international retail brands from Charles Tyrwhitt and The White Company to Ryman and Sue Ryder, Hobbycraft, Wasabi and Ted Baker, K3 Retail is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and the UK’s leading Microsoft Dynamics retail partner.