Ocado review

Ocado is an online-only grocer, and the only supermarket we've reviewed that doesn't have any bricks-and-mortar stores. It sells M&S food and drink as well as its own and other brands.

It promises an unbeatable range, effortless convenience and fair value. But what do its customers think?

In our latest supermarkets survey, 56 Ocado customers rated the online retailer on everything from delivery slots and drivers to food quality and value for money. 

This enabled us to work out star ratings for different factors as well as an overall customer score.

Is Ocado's online delivery service any good? 

Ocado tops the table

Ocado took the top spot this year, moving up from joint second place last year. Its customer score was five percentage points higher than the supermarkets now in joint second place for online shopping, Iceland and Waitrose.

It received excellent five-star ratings for its range of products, the availability of its delivery slots and its customer service at delivery. 

Customers were impressed with the quality of its own-label and fresh products and the ease of using its website or app too, where it received four stars. It was rated an average three stars for value for money and stock availability. 

We didn't have a big enough sample size in our survey to rate its choice of substitute items. 

One customer said: ‘Excellent quality of products and great customer service. Delivery drivers friendly and punctual. Always easy to get a delivery slot.'

Another happy customer added: ‘Their product range is excellent, including high-quality items, and their prices are fair.'

Ocado was a Which? Recommended Provider for online grocery deliveries last year, but we haven't named it one this year as it's often the second most expensive supermarket in our monthly price comparison.

• Find out more: see how the big players compare in our guide to the best and worst supermarkets

How does Ocado work?

Having been set up as an online-only grocer right from when it was founded in 2000, Ocado arguably has a technological edge over its competitors. 

It even uses robots to pick and pack some shopping. Designed to mimic the human hand, the bots whizz around on gridded tracks and use grippers to collect the items in your order. They know the weight, size and shape of different products and are programmed to put heavy items at the bottom, meaning less chance of your bottles and cans squashing your fruit and bread. 

Ocado claims that by not using stores, where other shoppers might buy the items you ordered online, makes the supply chain shorter and more tightly controlled.

How fresh is the food in Ocado deliveries?

In August 2021 we went undercover to find out how the different supermarkets compare for freshness, using a team of mystery shoppers to order more than 1,000 groceries in the first – and biggest – comparison of its kind.

Ocado came third out of six supermarkets for freshness, with items lasting nearly 10 and a half days, on average. While its score was middling overall, it did make a few errors, including delivering a pot of cream two days past its use-by date, beef that looked like it had gone off despite being in date, and two bottles of leaking milk.  

• Find out more: which online supermarket delivers the freshest groceries?

Ocado in the news

In January 2023 Ocado reported its best ever Christmas, with a growth in sales of 15% and orders up by 13% in the five days before Christmas. It also said it recorded the highest number of orders in one day it had ever received, at more than 72,000.

• Find out more: what supermarkets are doing to help with the cost of living

Which? Affordable Food For All campaign

Which? has launched an Affordable Food For All campaign after it found millions of families are skipping meals to survive the cost of living crisis. 

In an innovative new study, undertaken with researchers from the Consumer Data Research Centre at the University of Leeds, we've identified 50 of the most at-risk areas for finding affordable food in the UK.

We're calling on supermarkets to commit to clear pricing, better access to budget ranges that enable healthy choices and more offers for those who need them most.

• Do you want to see supermarkets take action? Sign the petition.