Morrisons changes digital partnership with Ocado

Morrisons has announced changes to its partnership with Ocado as it looks to expand its delivery options with the likes of Amazon and Uber Eats.

The fourth largest supermarket chain in the UK said the terms of its digital partnership deal, which included an exclusive delivery tie up with Ocado, have been relaxed to allow it to work with other companies and expand its online operations.

Morrisons has also agreed to allow Ocado sole use of its new Erith fulfilment centre warehouse until January 2021 after a devastating blaze at Ocado’s automated warehouse in Andover in February, which hit the firm’s production capacity by 10 per cent – equivalent to about 30,000 weekly orders.

David Potts, Morrisons chief executive, said: “We are pleased to be helping our partner in times of need after the recent fire – we will keep growing Morrisons.com for our customers and save some cost, returning to the Erith centre when it is more mature.

“Our new agreement allows us to have more than one digital partner, and opens the way for significant potential opportunities and partnerships in this important growth area for Morrisons.”

Morrisons currently sells groceries as part of Amazon’s online food marketplace, but has not yet expanded the partnership to include Amazon’s Prime delivery network.

The revised agreement with Ocado also comes after the delivery firm confirmed a joint venture for online and food delivery with M&S.

The 50/50 joint venture will trade as Ocado.com, but with access to M&S’ brand, products and customer database from September 2020 at the latest, following the termination of its longstanding tie up with rival retailer Waitrose.

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