Morrisons is launching its fightback for online growth after its departure from Ocado’s Erith fulfilment centre, with the expansion of store picking from next week.
The supermarket’s exit from Erith last month left it serving the south of England from 150 miles further north in Warwickshire. It has meant reduced delivery slots for up to two million addresses, with customers in some areas having to wait at least two days for their shopping.
But a ramp up in capacity will begin from Monday (1 July), when Morrisons in Plymstock will start fulfilling orders by picking them in store.
Plymstock will serve Plymouth and “north of the city to Exeter”, according to a Morrisons spokeswoman.
As more branches come online in the weeks ahead, joining the 24 across the UK that already pick in-store, it should ease the strain on orders across the south, currently served from Ocado’s Dordon CFC, which Morrisons retains use of.
Read more: Can the Morrisons-Ocado split really be a win-win?
“The move is all part of our continued ambition to grow Morrisons.com for customers, both by accelerating new store pick capacity and through the Dordon CFC,” said the spokeswoman.
Morrisons’ exit from Erith was seen as essential by Ocado to restore expected growth after the loss of its Andover CFC in a fire in February. It left Morrisons scrambling to fulfil 10,000 orders a week in the south.
But it also came with an exclusivity break which allows Morrisons to benefit more from same-day delivery by Amazon, an offer that also relies on store picking by supermarket staff.
‘Morrisons on Amazon’, available to Prime members in Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham and parts of London and the home counties, is to be offered in more cities across the UK this year, the supermarket said earlier this month.
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