Ocado’s new customer fulfilment centre (CFC) in Luton has been hit by online technical issues resulting in products showing up as out of stock on its website.
According to analysis of Assosia data by The Grocer, the number of out-of-stock items on the Ocado.com website shot up by more than 100 products on Monday compared with last week.
Moreover, some suppliers reported around half of their listed range were affected.
The new Luton site, which is becoming fully operational at the “fastest-ever” rate for the online supermarket, takes Ocado Retail’s total capacity from 400,000 to 525,000 orders per week in the UK.
The Luton distribution centre launched five weeks ago, and serves as a replacement for Ocado’s oldest fulfilment centre in Hatfield, which closed earlier this year.
The Hatfield CFC handled around a fifth of Ocado Retails order volume, but was closed due to it being usurped in terms of innovation and productivity by other sites.
At the time, CEO of Ocado Group and chairman of Ocado Retail, Tim Steiner said that they have “many brilliant Hatfield-based colleagues who have been with us for a long time and are a big part of our journey.”
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An Ocado Retail spokesperson told Grocery Gazette: “Luton is our fastest ever ramping CFC – since launch just 5 weeks ago, it is already fulfilling as many customer orders as some of our most mature sites.
“As with any rapidly growing new site, there have been some small hurdles to overcome, such as a temporary and specific stock issue at the weekend.”
The news comes as Ocado’s latest digital deposit return scheme (DDRS) has been deemed a success following a pilot which saw Ocado customers claim monetary rewards for two and four pint milk bottles over the summer.
