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Window Shopping...
Ocado brings its pioneering on-the-go shopping
experience to Birmingham
July 16,
2012 FOLLOWING SUCCESSFUL
stints in London and Bristol, Ocado, the UK’s biggest online grocer has brought
its revolutionary virtual shopping wall to Birmingham’s Bullring.
Live for one month from today, Monday July 16,
Ocado’s easy-to-use window display will allow local residents to order their
weekly shop without setting foot in a supermarket, as its great value, great quality delivery service
does all the hard work. Using its popular Ocado on the Go
app, customers can purchase any of the items on display in the virtual window simply
by scanning them with their smartphone.
From
baked beans to bananas, washing up liquid to wine, Ocado’s virtual shopping
wall will be a one-stop-shop for not just household essentials but life’s little
extravagances too. With a nod to local culinary classics and Brummie food institutions too; balti, HP Sauce and even pork
faggots can be ‘scanned and shopped’. Finally,
for anyone who has yet to experience the literary phenomenon that is 50
Shades of Grey, they now have no excuse, as the best-seller can be added to
your basket too via the pioneering shopping experience.
The Ocado virtual store can be found at Unit
SU708 opposite the Apple® store, and will be accessible during the Bullring’s
opening hours. Taking advantage of the service couldn’t be simpler, with any
customers who have access to an iOS, Android or Windows 7-enabled smartphone able
to point and shop:
- If you don’t have it already, download the
Ocado on the Go app from your app store
- Open the app and go straight to the
barcode scanner
- Hold the camera screen over the barcode of
a product until it recognises it
- When the product appears on your screen,
press ‘add’ to put it in your basket
- Keep on shopping and then check out!
Ocado first hit the high street last August at
the One New Change shopping centre in central London, followed by a similar
installation at Bristol’s Cabot Circus in November 2011. It was the first time
that Ocado, a strictly online business, had migrated from the internet to
bricks and mortar. However, being a leader in online grocery retail – introducing
the world’s first supermarket shopping mobile application on iPhone in 2009 and
Blackberry and Windows Phone 7 handsets in 2011 - the company stuck to its
digital technology roots with a distinctive spin on the future of high street
shopping.
As of June 2012, mobile devices were used in a
staggering 24% of Ocado checkouts; an ever-increasing number of customers now
regularly shop via the award-winning Ocado on the Go app.
Jason Gissing, Ocado
Co-Founder, said: “We could not be more excited about bringing our virtual
window shopping experience to the Bullring. Birmingham has long been Britain’s
Second City, and with so many of our dedicated customers living in the area it
makes perfect sense to take our virtual store to their doorstep. The Bullring
shopping centre is such an iconic location, and we can’t wait to see how much
easier this will make the lives of both our existing fans and new customers
alike, as they use our innovative service to take away the hassle of the weekly
shop – no crowds, no long checkout queues, no heavy bags; this is the future of
retail in the UK, and it’s here right now.”
To check out Ocado’s
virtual shopping wall for yourself, head down to the Bullring shopping centre,
Birmingham, from July 16, just don’t forget your smartphone!
-Ends-
For
further information contact:
Rochelle
Collison, Frank PR Tel:
020 7693 7496 Email: rochellecollison@frankpr.it
Notes to Editors:
About Ocado:
Ocado
(www.ocado.com)
was established in 2000, started trading in 2002 and is now one of Britain ’s leading online supermarkets. Ocado operates a
centralised distribution model which means that it does not rely upon a network
of stores from which to service customers – orders are fulfilled at a unique,
high-automated Customer Fulfilment Centre in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, before
being loaded onto delivery vans making local routes, or transported by HGV to
vans stationed at a network of regional UK
distribution spokes. Ocado delivers over 21,000 product lines including
Waitrose goods and a growing Ocado own-label range. Last October it was named
World E-tailer of the Year at the prestigious World Retail Awards and, earlier
this year, won Consumer Initiative of the Year at the Grocer Gold Awards for
its popular mobile commerce platform.
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