Ocado tips, hacks, Toblerone and Christmas

[GaryUnicorn]

Carrying on from the old thread....

Still no email about the Christmas slots.

After covid dp and I have agreed we will play the field, swipe Ocado, try some fresh faces

This just popped in my email box.....

Your voucher for
1p
We checked the listed prices at tesco.com and your comparable shopping wasn’t cheaper with us this time.

I got an email from them this evening with a survey asking me to say how I thought Ocado were doing (and other questions - do you have a fondue set springs to mind). I let rip ....

New to the thread too, and also a long time Ocado user. Has anyone noticed their M&S food goes off a lot quicker than the Waitrose food used to? I've had to throw away so much due to things going mouldy. Argh!!! I HATE throwing away food, but it seems to only last about 2 days and is then inedible.

But, still think their delivery staff are amazing. They are always so friendly!

Ive just been sent a survey from Ocado😀
Ive held no punches, hope they take notice

New to this thread, not new to Ocado - we've shopped with them for 10 years or more and they've been great up until this year. I've started looking around for where to jump ship, really fed up at the difficulty of getting a delivery and the bobbins M&S groceries. Which other services would people recommend? Thanks

Which other services would people recommend?

If you didn't just mean supermarkets this is a joyous starting point:

farmstofeedus.org/database

Not the easiest website to navigate, but everyone I know who's used the database has completely changed their shopping habits this year.

I certainly have. After years of growing and sourcing to my heart's content I had become lazy with Ocado and accepted, well - all the things we complained of even before 2020. Their Spring meltdown forced me to find other suppliers. Now, I've gone back to wine from wine merchants, freshly caught fish from people who only do that, veg boxes, cheese from cheese producers, etc. It's made lockdown much more entertaining and less stressful than it might have been. (Food-wise at least.)

Interesting article.
We can blame the robots when deliveries go bad
www.theguardian.com/business/2020/nov/28/christmas-slots-went-in-five-hours-how-online-supermarket-ocado-became-a-lockdown-winner

Watch the robots:

m.youtube.com/watch?v=4DKrcpa8Z_E

Watching that blew my mind & I’m no closer to understanding how it all works

I can't actually see what they are doing. They just seem to be zooming around but not actually picking anything up apart from that bit with scanning the barcodes.

Very puzzled.

@CarlaH

I can't actually see what they are doing. They just seem to be zooming around but not actually picking anything up apart from that bit with scanning the barcodes.

Very puzzled.

No, I couldn't tell either. The Guardian article says From the viewing platform you can watch these metal cubes endlessly whiz around, moving thousands of plastic crates as if they were playing an enormous game of chess. You occasionally sight bottles of bleach or rosé, packets of noodles and dog biscuits, before they are sent down to a lower level but it's still a mystery.

That was an enlightening piece in the Grauniad. So the CEO of the M&S/Ocado shopping bit joined from M&S a year ago! I suspect a lot of the "old team' walked out over to Waitrose too. If they haven''t been able to expand their customer base, why are they struggling to sort out "what you order is what you'll get" stock levels?

I do think the future of grocery shopping will become online fulfilment rather than huge hypermarkets so it is sad that Waitrose had such a big spat with Ocado.

My food shopping habits have become a lot more complicated these past 6 months. A year ago it would have been 70% Ocado, with an occasional foray into an Aldi or Lidl for continental "specials" and cheap wine (none are local), and top up shops in the local Waitrose (unless they sent us some 10% off vouchers to persuade me to do a big shop). These days I doubt that Ocado are getting more than 20% of my spend, Waitrose 40%.

These days most of my veg comes from a wholesaler or the local florist (diversified in lockdown and liked having more customers pop in). The local butchers have websites of sorts and happily deliver, as does the local cheese shop. The little breweries do a lot more bottling/mini casks and beer boxes so that keeps DH happy. Aldi online and the Wine Society bring us wine.

Lockdown has also encouraged to seek out small shops in other parts of the city (a bit like wandering around the International bit of Ocado, but "in person").

Actually I realise I have no clue how much money we spend on food and drink! Ignorance is bliss, I suppose.

Thank you for posting that a link to that spreadsheet PPE. Our local fishmonger is underwhelming and the local fish restaurant didn't bother to open a seafood shop this lockdown.

I think that video is of the last stage of the picking process. The robots are collecting individual crates from the pickers(robotic or otherwise) and collating them for the vans.

This (sort of) explains how it works and why some people might struggle to get slots:

There is some human intervention too, this video might help:

The Waitrose disagreement goes back a very long way.

As the losses continued to mount, John Lewis and Waitrose started to lose patience. Gissing says: “We were constantly fighting with John Lewis and Waitrose. It was like being in an abusive marriage at times.” The turning point was in 2013, when Ocado went behind Waitrose’s back and struck a deal with Morrisons – to supply warehouse technology and software to the Yorkshire supermarket

At one point, Ocado closed down the website for 48 hours; it suspended its app for five months for most of its customers; some still can’t access it

How many of us still haven't got the app back? (I haven't)

I'm still not allowed to use app.

@wendz86

I'm still not allowed to use app.

me either.

[quote Fuss]There is some human intervention too, this video might help:

[/quote] Thanks, @Fuss, that was fascinating. The intelligent packing robot is a bit scary... When you change your order they have to replan the whole network!!! Bloody hell. I'm always adding bits & pieces to mine I feel really guilty now

[quote Madcats]I think that video is of the last stage of the picking process. The robots are collecting individual crates from the pickers(robotic or otherwise) and collating them for the vans.

This (sort of) explains how it works and why some people might struggle to get slots:

[/quote] Thanks for yours, too, @Madcats I've watched all these videos with my face either screwed up in concentration or just gaping. Who designs these systems? Imagine living inside their heads...

Thanks for those videos.

All very interesting, especially the robots dropping the items into the plastic bags!

This explains why I've just had to throw out a packet of cheese puffs which wasn't filled with pillows of cheese deliciousness but instead was filled with fractured shards of cheese puffs.

I don't think M&S have given any thought to the rigorous handing their products need to withstand when being dealt with by robots, rather than by humans in a shop, dropping into bags for instance.
I've lost count of items which clearly state "Keep Upright" yet they've been packed upside down or lying sideways, etc etc. I need to keep a list so that I don't reorder them!

My excuse for watching Ocado videos is that I've been waiting for a courier!

That gadget show video is quite recent - the Madcat household are rather partial to sticky toffee pudding (so had one of the gastropub ones in a Dine in Deal a few weeks ago).