Ocado will open 12 rapid delivery sites allowing customers to receive their groceries in just 30 minutes.
The online supermarket has been trialling the service – called Ocado Zoom – in west London.
But it is looking for a dozen sites in the capital – making the service available to millions.
Fast food: Online supermarket Ocado has been trialling a 30 minute delivery service – called Ocado Zoom – in west London and is now looking for a dozen sites in the capital
The company will then look to roll out the service out to other parts of the country. Ocado posted booming lockdown growth as middle-class families flocked online to shop.
Its sales rose 40 per cent to £599million in the 13 weeks to February 28 as the family lockdown basket swelled to £147, up from £110 before Covid.
Bosses hailed a ‘dramatic and permanent’ shift towards online shopping, but shares tumbled 4.9 per cent to 1980p – their lowest since July.
Investors balked as the 2.5 per cent increase in order numbers to 329,000 per week was below analysts’ predictions.
But Marks & Spencer products made up a quarter of customers’ baskets, and the number of shoppers battling for Ocado slots rocketed after the tie-up launched in September.
Chief executive Tim Steiner said: ‘Over the last 12 months, there has been a dramatic and permanent shift towards online grocery shopping around the world. We’re registering more customers every week than we can serve, and that has accelerated since we launched M&S.’
He also dismissed the threat of losing ground to Amazon calling the online giant a ‘very small competitor’ that had ‘negligible’ market share.
Ocado hopes its rapid delivery service, which enables customers able to buy between £15 and £250 worth of food, will further boost its prospects.
Each site can reach customers who live within three miles, and will generate between £20million and £25million of sales per year.
The range is smaller than the Ocado.com website, with the company offering 10,000 products compared with 49,000 on the main site.
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