Ocado takes first step towards high street

Ocado is launching its first physical store with a pop-up shop that integrates with its On The Go smartphone app.

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It is launching the virtual pop-up in London’s One New Change shopping arcade for a week from 26 August.

The “shop” will consists of a window display featuring images of Ocado’s most popular items along with with barcodes.

Shoppers use the virtual store 24 hours a day by scanning the barcodes using Ocado’s smartphone app and choose a delivery time for it to be delivered to their home.

The online retailer has never had a bricks and mortar presence before and the virtual pop-up shop could signal a major move.

It follows a similar move by Tesco in Korea which saw the supermarket create a virtual shop on an underground platform, allowing commuters to order online shopping from the station.

Ocado is currently facing increased competition from Waitrose which has relaunched its online platform and extended its delivery area to within the M25 for the first time.

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