Asda has signed a deal with Ocado Group to completely overhaul its online shopping business.
Announced this morning, the deal will see Ocado “quickly replace and upgrade” Asda’s existing e-commerce infrastructure.
It represents Ocado’s first major new business win after declaring it would move away from its long-standing partnership model in February. Ocado now expects to turn cashflow-positive in the second half of 2026.
Ocado tech will be rolled out across Asda’s stores and distribution hubs with the aim of going live in early 2027. Asda will be able to offer a full range of online services, including scheduled and short lead-time orders, as well as click & collect.
According to Kantar Worldpanel data, Asda’s online sales come to approximately £3bn annually. After a sharp decline in 2024 and 2025, the grocer’s online sales have recently stabilised and returned to modest growth, but still lag overall market performance according to Bank of America analyst Xavier Le Mene.
“Asda is a good model for this experiment, with large stores, relatively narrow range of branded items and high-teens online participation,” added Bloomberg Intelligence senior retail analyst Charles Allen.
Asda can also use Ocado’s platform to fulfil and deliver orders made through aggregator apps such as Uber Eats, Deliveroo or Just Eat.
Asda executive chairman Allan Leighton said the overhaul would help the supermarket offer a consistent, high-quality online shopping experience.
“Asda is the cheapest full-range supermarket, as consistently shown by independent price comparisons from Which? and The Grocer, and has a large, well-established online offer,” he said.
“We know that continued success in this highly competitive market is dependent on providing a positive experience for customers every time they shop. Partnering with Ocado will strengthen our online offer and provide a consistent and high-quality experience for millions of shoppers, from order through to delivery, while supporting our Formula for Growth.”
Ocado Group CEO Tim Steiner said he was “delighted” Asda had chosen Ocado.
“The UK remains one of the world’s most competitive and fast-evolving online grocery markets, where technology, scale and continuous innovation are increasingly important for retailers looking to maintain leadership positions.”
RBC analyst Manjari Dhar said she expected the deal would give Asda a “significant upgrade” to its online shopping capabilities, allowing it to compete better in a fast-growing section of the grocery market.
“As such, we see this as a potential small negative for the likes of Tesco and Sainsbury’s, albeit we note that both of these players have had strong e-commerce offers for some time now, which are both likely more profitable than this arrangement will be for Asda. Even so, it is a further step forward in the turnaround for Asda.”
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