Ocados

Ocado Group plc, commonly known as Ocado, is a British online supermarket and technology company. Based in Hatfield, England, it operates a pure-play online grocery service in the United Kingdom and develops software and automation systems for other retailers through its Ocado Smart Platform.

Founded in 2000 by Jonathan Faiman, Jason Gissing and Tim Steiner, Ocado launched online grocery shopping in 2002 and grew into a major UK retailer. It built large automated fulfillment centers and developed its software to manage orders, inventory, and delivery. In the 2010s, Ocado established Ocado Technology to advance software, robotics, and artificial intelligence, and introduced the Ocado Smart Platform to license its technology to partner retailers.

Ocado Smart Platform combines customer front-end interfaces with back-end order management, warehouse control, and last-mile logistics. Partner retailers operate online stores under their own brands while using Ocado's logistics systems. Ocado runs its own Customer Fulfillment Centers in the UK and pursues international expansion through OSP licenses and joint ventures with other grocery operators.

Ocado is publicly listed on the London Stock Exchange. The company emphasizes automation and software-as-a-service for groceries, and its model has influenced online grocery adoption and warehouse robotics. In some contexts, Ocados is used to refer collectively to the Ocado Group and its affiliated businesses.