OCADOLIFE 10 - June 2009

People sometimes ask us what we love most about our jobs. Well, launching a business that has grown from three men in an office to award-winning retailer in just a few years is a pretty incredible feeling. And some of the wonderful food and drink that our suppliers bring in for sampling takes a fair bit of beating too. But, really, the best, most rewarding thing of all is listening to what customers want, then finding innovative ways of making that happen.

Sometimes it can be something as simple as letting you know when we’re delivering in your area, so you can choose your time slot accordingly and minimise the carbon footprint of your own delivery. Other times it means pulling off something gloriously huge and spectacular that no-one’s ever attempted before, like working out a way to display ‘use-by’ dates on our website and receipts – something that, amazingly, we think is a world first for an online grocery retailer!

We think we were also the first UK grocer to work out how to collect, process and recycle our used grocery bags, ensuring that we don’t add to the millions of supermarket bags which end up dumped in landfill sites each year.

We can do this sort of thing because we’ve never been an online supermarket in the ordinary sense. Specifically, we’ve never built up a string of grocery stores that tie us to a traditional (and, we think, inefficient and wasteful) way of doing business. We’re also independent, which keeps us light on our toes. This, along with a business crammed with passionate, creative people, gives us all the freedom and inspiration we need to innovate.

Of course, getting the basics spot on is hugely satisfying: that’s a given. But nothing beats the excitement we feel when we introduce a new service that we know will genuinely change people’s lives. Like being able to create a suggested order which actually contains all the groceries that you’ll need for that week, so you can do an entire shop in seconds, from start to finish.

Our award-winning app for iPhone and iPod touch is another great example. Right from its launch, we were excited by the iPhone’s potential to set customers free from their home PC. People talk about convenience shopping; well, what could be more convenient than ordering groceries on the way to work, ready to be delivered when you get home that evening?

And it’s that desire to keep making our service better and smarter than our competitors – in fact, than any other retailer in the world – that drives us onwards. For example, imagine an Ocado website created just for you. Personalised to suit your needs, it would have all the tools you need to manage your groceries, and make the experience as quick, easy and enjoyable as you want. Well, watch this space!

Now, if you’ll excuse us, it’s time to put our thinking caps back on – we’ve got work to do…

Tim,

Ocado Co-Founder