Ocado chief executive Tim Steiner has dismissed the threat of Amazon and emerging on-demand grocery start-ups, comparing them to pureplay convenience stores.
Asked about Amazon’s new Fresh bricks and mortar stores and its online partnership with Morrisons, Steiner said the US tech giant was a “very, very small competitor” adding its impact on the UK grocery market had been “very small”.
“The large online competitors are Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons and then at a smaller rate, Waitrose and Iceland,” he said. “Amazon Fresh is right, right, right down the list at an almost non-noticeable level. That doesn’t mean that we don’t obviously watch them because Amazon is an extraordinary global retailer. But their impact in the UK grocery market since they arrived has been very, very small.”
Steiner also dismissed concerns about the start of a possible ‘time war’ with the pandemic growth of on-demand grocery start-ups such as Weezy, Dija, Gorillas and Zapp.
“Whilst there is an interesting market for a 10-minute or a 15-minute service, compared to a half an hour service, there’s not often a consumer need where it’s really worthwhile spending £10 on delivery rather than £2.50 on delivery to get it in 15 minutes, rather than 30 minutes.”
Steiner added that the on-demand grocery players were effectively competing with corner shops and convenience stores, adding “it’s not a replacement for the hypermarket and a replacement for the big basket shop.”
No comments yet