The marketing strategies that led Ocado to the top

Ocado’s growth clearly came from seven key factors. Notably, the company has collaborated with others in various industries to expand its reach. Ocado could have held its technology close, refusing to offer it to competitors, but the Smart Platform, which essentially offers competitors access to the same technology, has allowed everyone in the business to improve customer service.

Ocado has deals in place to share its automated warehouse technology with grocery providers in eight countries, which is propelling growth. We have analyzed Ocado’s key marketing strategies for you to apply to your own business.

Key strategy #1: The omnichannel approach

Since its inception, the Ocado marketing strategy has been built around customer experience, which includes an omnichannel approach to engagement. It was an early adopter of smartphone technology enabling people to place and manage orders from their phones. In 2017, Ocado partnered with the company Selligent to communicate with customers through phone, social media, and email.

As it has with many technologies, Ocado was an early advocate of using artificial intelligence and machine learning to categorize customer emails. The Ocado omnichannel strategy freed up time for customer service reps to respond to challenging customer issues and offer better service.

Key strategy #2: Automation to its fullest

Ocado’s automated warehouses speed up the process from ordering to delivery. Machine learning helps warehouse robots anticipate when customers will order certain items based on a variety of factors, including interaction with each customer. The robots are arranged throughout the factory and controlled with a strategic system that keeps them from colliding.

Before automated warehouses, Ocado’s distribution centers ran with a series of conveyor belts that would often experience traffic jams during high volume order times. The new system is more efficient and accurate, speeding up the process without sacrificing customer service.

Key strategy #3: Taking the supply chain one step ahead

Being able to anticipate customers’ needs is key to fulfilling them. To automate its warehouse and delivery system, Ocado begins by anticipating customer demand. Each fulfillment center has a digital counterpart used to simulate conditions. Company personnel can use historical data to see what people will be ordering when they will order it, and how quickly it needs to go out based on how many perishable items are included.

Using these scenarios, Ocado runs simulations within the warehouse to see how quickly orders can be fulfilled. While the models aren’t perfect, they help Ocado identify gaps in the system that could hold up customer orders. Fixing glitches on virtual customers helps ensure that actual customers will receive a great experience.

Find all the marketing strategies that Ocado used to grow here.