Published: March 10, 2026 at 4:56 pm
The name Ocado has long been synonymous with cutting-edge technology.
Founded at the turn of the century and floated in London in 2010, Ocado – which had built warehouse automation technology – launched an app in the early smartphone years and runs an online-only supermarket.
John Lewis was an early backer and it also provided the tech for the online business of its Waitrose subsidiary.
In 2019, after nearly two decades, Ocado ditched Waitrose and agreed a joint venture (Ocado Retail) with rival M&S – which saw the latter pay £750 million – to sell its food instead.
However, as THG found with its technology division Ingenuity, R&D and robotics require a constant stream of investment and are rarely profitable compared with their retail counterparts.
THG eventually demerged Ingenuity, which like Ocado has retail clients, in January 2025 to protect the value of its retail arm’s shares, which had dropped dramatically since IPO.
Ocado’s valuation remains higher than at flotation in 2010, but that may not be the case forever – and at 200 pence today, it is some way short of the more than 2,200p it reached at the height of COVID.
It’s a complex picture.
So, as Ocado’s share price rises 4% today, what does the future hold?