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Ocado Launches New Price Commitment
HATFIELD, England, March 9 /PRNewswire/ -- - Company Promises to Match Tesco Ocado, the independent online grocer and Online Retailer of the Year, is rolling out a new price commitment that will guarantee its prices for branded groceries are equal to those of Tesco's cheapest pricing format. 'Ocado's Price Match', set to go live on Wednesday 12 March, will involve permanent price cuts - totalling millions of pounds - on 3,500 of Ocado's 12,000-plus lines. A marketing campaign will communicate the news to consumers. Commenting, Ocado Chief Executive Tim Steiner said, "Ocado has a reputation for superior service and excellent quality but we have been perceived as too expensive and out of the reach of many households. From Wednesday, that will no longer be the case." "Ocado's Price Match, coupled with our delivery charges which are the lowest in the industry, will make us accessible to millions of new customers who will be able to enjoy the benefits of a superior service without being penalised on price." "This move will support our efforts to drive sales and the benefits of our operational gearing will become increasingly apparent as we do so." Alongside the price cuts, recent changes to the Ocado website mean that offers and promotions are now more visible. Throughout the shop, customers are shown offers on items they have bought in the past and each aisle has an 'On Offer' filter. Prior to checkout, customers are prompted to take advantage of offers they have missed. Tim Steiner adds, "As well as increasing our appeal to new customers, this initiative rewards existing loyal customers by giving them improved value at a time when everyone is more cost-conscious." In the last week, Ocado notched up one of its busiest Friday nights on record. Of the 600,000 items bought by customers, just three items were unavailable. This fulfilment rate, typical of Ocado, is the highest in the industry. Ocado does not have an own-brand offering. Instead, the company sells Waitrose branded groceries and prices for these items remain unaffected. http://www.ocado.com
