24th Sep 2013 13:19
LONDON (Alliance News) - Waitrose supermarkets, part of the John Lewis partnership, Tuesday said that it will more than double the number of online delivery slots available to shoppers in London after it opens its second e-commerce grocery depot in South London in autumn 2014.
The high-end grocer will add the multi-million pound depot in Coulsdon, south London, to its existing facility, an old John Lewis distribution centre, at Acton in West London. The new site will be double the size of the Acton depot and allow 50% more drops to be made to customers.
Waitrose used to rely on Ocado Group PLC to deliver its online shopping, but has been hugely expanding its own delivery service as it ramped up its online offering in the past two years. The ramp up, particularly in the London area, caused relations with Ocado to sour, and things took a turn for the worse when Ocado announced a deal in the summer to do deliveries for supermarket rival Wm Morrison.
Ocado shares were down 4%, or 14.10 pence, at 383.10 pence Tuesday afternoon, with analysts citing the Waitrose move to further boost its own London operations.
By Rowena Harris-Doughty; [email protected]; @rharrisdoughty
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