The story of Ocado Group: A timeline of our history
From local grocery delivery company to global technology pioneer
Our CEO, Tim Steiner, opens our very first CFC
We've come a long way since this photo was taken... We were founded in 2000, and just one year later, pilot deliveries had begun. We were revolutionising a vastly competitive market, profitably moving grocery online when nobody had thought it possible. 2002 saw our delivery area increase to cover 2.2 million households, aided by the opening of our first Customer Fulfilment Centre (CFC) in Hatfield, and our first regional spoke in Weybridge.
2005 - 2006
- Our delivery area increases to cover over 10 million households
- 50,000 orders are delivered in a week for the first time
2008 - 2009
- Tesco Price Match and Ocado Delivery Pass are introduced
- Ocado Reserved is born
The first transactional shopping app in the UK: Ocado on the Go
The iPhone app, launched in 2009, was a ground-breaking step for online grocery. Jason Gissing, our co-founder, said at the time of release: "We're continuing to pioneer online grocery shopping, but this is only the first step of a journey that will eventually see Ocado available on several digital platforms." He wasn't wrong. We would become the first to launch a grocery shopping app on the Apple Watch in 2015 as we continue to blaze a trail in the online grocery sphere.
2010 - 2011
- Ocado Group are listed on the London Stock Exchange
- 100,000 orders are delivered in a week for the first time
- The Ocado 'Own-label' range is launched
- Ocado Technology opens its first international office in Krakow, Poland
2013 - 2014
- Ocado's CFC 2 in Dordon opens in Warwickshire, UK
- Our General Merchandise distribution centre opens in Welwyn Garden City, UK
- 150,000 orders are delivered in a week for the first time
Morrisons: our first strategic customer
Morrisons were signed as our first strategic customer in 2013, and we were delivering their first orders by the following year. In 2016, we announced an updated commercial agreement with Morrisons to include additional General Merchandise and store-pick. In 2018 they became the first Ocado Solutions customer to go live in an OSP CFC, with orders dispatched from Erith.
2015
- We exceed £1 billion in annual sales for the first time
- The Ocado Foundation is launched (£135,369 has been donated via the Foundation as of 2021)
2017
- The first bot goes live in our Erith CFC
A period of considerable international growth
In 2017, Ocado Group signed international deals with Bon Preu in Catalonia, and Groupe Casino in France. Then, in 2018, further international deals were signed with ICA in Sweden, Kroger in the US, and Sobeys in Canada. 2018 also marked the launch of Bon Preu's first stores serving delivery to local collection points with our in-store fulfilment solution. In 2019, we signed with Aeon in Japan, and Coles in Australia.
2019
- Ocado Retail enter a 50:50 joint venture with M&S
- Ocado Zoom, the one-hour grocery delivery service is launched, delivering to parts of west London
2020
- Ocado.com switches from Waitrose products to M&S products
- The first two international CFCs go live for Groupe Casino in Fleury-Mérogis, near Paris, and for Sobeys in Vaughan, Ontario.
Our groundbreaking CFCs
Our Customer Fulfilment Centres (CFCs) are powered by the Ocado Smart Platform (OSP). They represent the pinnacle of innovation in warehouse management; our use of state-of-the-art bots and robotic-pick-and-pack technology allow us to pick a 50-item order within minutes. It's no wonder our international partners are opening more and more every year.
2021
2022
- Kroger go live with four more CFCs in Atlanta Dallas, Pleasant Prairie, and Romulus
- A Memorandum of Understanding is signed to extend our partnership with Casino and enable us to offer OSP to all grocery retailers in France
- Ocado go live with a CFC in Bicester and Zoom sites in Canning Town, Leyton and Leeds
- Sobeys go live with a CFC in Montreal
- Ocado Group signed their 12th international partner, Lotte, in South Korea
Ocado Re:Imagined
Our teams are constantly innovating to support our partners' needs in an evolving landscape of online grocery. In January 2022 we unveiled Ocado Re:Imagined, a series of the latest technological innovations powering OSP. The innovations will be available to OSP partners from the end of 2023 and will help retailers grow their operations faster and with higher profit margins.
2023
- In March Kroger went live with their seventh CFC in Denver, Colorado
Looking ahead...
We are constantly innovating, constantly striving to disrupt the status quo. As a company of problem solvers, Ocado Group will continue to find unique ways to improve our OSP and expand its uses - both within and outside of retail. Our partners will always share in the technological progress that we make, allowing us to move forwards together towards our goal: to change the way the world shops for good.
