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Ocado launches budget range to combat crunch
5 Dec 2008Ocado is launching its first range of low-price staples as affluent customers start to feel the pinch.
The move by the online grocer - which delivers Waitrose products to clients including Madonna, Jonathan Ross and Downing Street - is a bid to prevent customers switching to cheaper rivals.
From today the website will offer the Everyday range, which will be up to 23 per cent cheaper than Waitrose own-brand items.
Initially it will include 21 popular meat cuts, sausages, ready meals and milk. In the new year it will include fresh fruit and vegetables.
Ocado, London's biggest online supermarket, said customers had asked for a wider choice of prices. Jason Gissing, Ocado's co-founder and chief financial officer, said: "We've introduced Everyday in response to customers' needs. In March we were quick to spot the early signs of recession, introducing Tesco Price Match to give cost-conscious shoppers improved value. Our new Everyday range improves that value further."
He added: "It's about choice though, not simply discounting. We've also started introducing premium products in the last few weeks which are doing very well." So far Ocado has defied predictions that shoppers would abandon expensive grocers in the credit crunch. The company has maintained constant sales growth of about 18 per cent year-on-year over the last three months. Mr Gissing said: "Last week we had the best sales on record - around £8million. We're still a minnow but we're growing fast."
