Ocado Starts The Supermarket Rush to Mobile

Giles Turnbull ()

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Ocado is one of the UK’s classier supermarkets. It’s online-only (although closely linked to meatspace retailer Waitrose) and most people would probably say it appeals to the better-off kind of shopper.

It’s also, as of this week, a pioneer of iPhone shopping. The free Ocado app does a few clever things that the other big retailers might want to keep a close eye on when they finally get round to building apps of their own.

For one thing, the app comes with Ocado’s full catalogue of 18,000 products, so you don’t need a net connection to browse and add stuff to your basket. Add things when you think of them, whenever it’s convenient. And next time your phone’s online, it’ll sync all your actions with your Ocado account.

It falls down with a bizarre bug: your phone’s clock has to be set to 24 hour clock mode for the app to install and run correctly. If it isn’t, the app falls over and very critical comments start appearing on the App Store. The developers know about this, though, and say they’ll have it fixed soon.

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This app is a sign of things to come. Online shopping has grown enormously in the UK over the last decade or so, and it’s going to grow ever bigger if people can shop more conveniently, away from their home computers. Rival (cheaper, more popular) supermarkets are no doubt hard at work on similar apps (for iPhone and other platforms) right now, and it will be very interesting to see how they compare.

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About the author

gilest

Giles Turnbull is a freelance writer in England. He writes for the Press Association and The Morning News. He has a website you can ignore and a Twitter account you needn't follow.

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Posted in iPhone, Reviews, Software |

  • Ian Patterson

    This app is brilliantly executed. Anyone who’s used Ocado’s website knows how usable that is – and the App is closely related to the website in look and feel, whilst adapting to the iPhone well too.
    As Ocado knows your common and recent purchases, using those set up a shopping basket is a doddle, and v quick too. Booking a delivery is fine too – though I had problems doing it yesterday morning, it worked by the evening. Seeing your basket, adjusting quantities etc are all equally good.
    The more observed people out there will see it make use of Push too. When you add an item to your basket, the price is provisionally calculated. A short while later the real price etc comes through (you see a brief red “1″ against the basket icon at the bottom. Things like special offers and multibuys are calculated remotely, using just the local price provisionally.
    This is a great example of how usable Apps can be: I set up an order for next week in 5 mins sitting on a plane waiting for boarding to complete.