Yesterday, I composed a post entitled A sceptical moment... Ocado launches pop-up shop in which I made a number of statements regarding my skepticism about Ocado's new store format in London. Although I still stand by my statements and the fact that this store is not for me, a debate with apt MD Angie offered an alternative viewpoint.
After listening to the reasoning behind the new store format, Angie felt that she would definitely be a user who would happily try the new format for a number of reasons:
- She is not an online shopper as often the products are strangely listed and it is difficult to see what's available, plus there is always at least a 24 hour delay on delivery
- She is a supermarket shopper, but as a mum and given how much her family eats, the biggest negative she finds with shopping is the selecting the product, putting it in the trolley, unloading the trolley, packing the bags, reloading the trolley, paying the bill, going to the car, unloading the shopping, getting home, unloading the shopping again, then unpacking it inside! It's a lengthy process and a big job as far as she's concerned!
For Angie, the benefit to the Ocado Scheme is that she could still physically visit the store, look at the latest deals easily and navigate her way around the aisles BUT, she wouldn't have to be the one lugging it around everywhere! What she would want however is the guarantee that it would be delivered in a few hours, otherwise it's no more effective than shopping online.
Definitely a split office on this one and it seems to depend whether we have children or not, but we're all waiting to see how this will pan out.
Further update on this store format is that Tesco are running the same thing in South Korea! http://www.retailgazette.co.uk/articles/43224-tesco-trials-virtual-store-in-south-korea
What does anyone else think? We'd love to hear who's for or against this format :-)
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