Ocado struggles to deal with ‘10 times higher than normal’ level of demand

A spokeswoman for the online retailer said staff are “working round the clock” to fulfil deliveries, but admitted that “no matter how hard we work” the Ocado system simply does not have the capacity to fulfil the level of orders it has received.

Ocado has recently paused its virtual queue system to allow it to give priority access to vulnerable customers and its Smart Pass Anytime holders but has still faced criticism from customers for lengthy wait times and unfulfilled orders.

The spokeswoman said that, while Ocado is currently the fastest-growing grocer in the UK and is constantly adding capacity to keep up with demand, the levels of requests have been completely unprecedented.

“We’re working round the clock to get as much food to as many homes as possible. Demand is 10 times higher than normal and, no matter how hard we work, we do not have enough capacity to serve these unprecedented levels of demand,” she said.

“We’ve paused our virtual queue to enable us to give priority access to a number of customers, including vulnerable customers and Smart Pass Anytime holders. We thank our customers for their continued understanding and patience.”

On March 19, Ocado’s chief financial officer Duncan Tatton-Brown said the retailer had closed its website so its technicians could make changes to its algorithm to improve the “fairness” with which customers could book delivery slots.

This included placing limits on certain product lines, stopping customers from booking multiple delivery slots and prioritising vulnerable customers and those being forced to self-isolate to protect themselves from coronavirus.

The spokeswoman said those measures were continuing in the background as Ocado struggles to meet with increased demand.

Ocado currently has three operational customer fulfilment centres (CFCs) in the UK, only one of which is currently at full capacity. A fourth CFC in Andover, Hampshire, was gutted by fire in February last year.

The pureplay grocer is not alone in struggling to deal with unprecedented levels of demand for its online delivery services. Both Tesco and Sainsbury’s have been forced to put limits on their online delivery services as they too struggle to meet demand.