Ocado taps Amazon’s Alexa for voice ordering in convenience push

Bloomberg

UK online grocer Ocado Group Plc is teaming up with Amazon.com Inc. to let shoppers top up their baskets using the US e-commerce giant’s voice-recognition system.
The Hatfield, England-based company has developed an app for Amazon’s Alexa that allows customers to add items to their digital shopping lists, keep track of orders and ask for product recommendations simply by speaking. The service is available immediately, the British company said.
As Amazon brings its logistical prowess to its newly acquired Whole Foods stores, pressure is rising on other grocers to make shopping more convenient.
Industry giants Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Tesco Plc have moved
into voice-ordering by partnering with Google.
Ocado hasn’t been able to translate healthy sales growth into material profits due to the high costs of building distribution centers and delivering groceries to shoppers’ doors. The company, which runs Wm Morrison Supermarkets Plc’s online business, is seeking to license its logistics technology beyond the UK.
It announced an agreement with an unidentified regional European retailer in June but has yet to strike a deal with a global heavyweight.
Amid investor skepticism about Ocado’s prospects, 17.3 percent of the shares were sold short as of August 25, making it one of the most-shorted European consumer-industry stocks, according to IHS Markit Ltd. data.
Ocado has long been seen as a potential takeover target for Amazon. The US company is seeking to build scale in the UK grocery market, where its Fresh service has less than a 1 percent share, according to researcher Kantar Worldpanel. Amazon Fresh already offers shopping via Alexa.