Ocado CEO Tim Steiner slips into hot seat at online retailer's technology division Ocado Solutions

Ocado Group reports that CEO Tim Steiner will temporarily lead Ocado Solutions, the company's technology sub-unit.

The move comes as current boss, John Martin, steps down after 18 months in the role, having taken over in 2023 from Luke Jensen.

James Matthews, the current CEO at Ocado Technology, will also become Deputy CEO of the wider group.

Kroger

There's a dark cloud hanging over Ocado Group and it goes by the name of Kroger. That's the view of Brittain Ladd, a supply chain consultant and former Amazon executive.

Ladd was speaking in March as Ocado Group said it would scale back its research and development workforce in the UK and globally as it remained loss making last year despite a strong performance from its online retail arm. The company specialises in robotic warehouses for other retailers alongside its Ocado Retail business as a joint venture with M&S.

In a LinkedIn post, he said: "I’m a fan of the technology created by Ocado Group, and I believe the company should be respected for pushing the grocery industry to think differently about how they operate."

"I believe Tim Steiner, has fought the good fight to keep pushing grocery retailers globally to embrace the use of Ocado’s customer fulfillment centres (CFC), even as the company has experienced over $1.5 billion in losses, and encountered stiff resistance to their business model. Like Jeff Bezos when he launched Amazon, Steiner has learned that sometimes the only person who believes in a company is the founder."

He added: "For the eternally optimistic Steiner, there are many reasons to be cheerful. He points out that back in 2012, the average time for Ocado to fulfil an order was 25 minutes. Today an Ocado CFC is capable of fulfilling a 45 to 50-item order with around 10 minutes at 1/7th the cost of using human labour."

"Ocado has also expanded the use cases for CFCs to include fulfilling non-grocery items for retailers and orders for B2B clients, and the company is finding success."

But regardless of the improvements made to Ocado’s technology, or the expansion into other retail categories, Kroger poses a big problem. It is Ocado’s largest and most important customer. The goal is to build 20 CFCs, and eight CFCs have been opened. However, the eight CFCs actually convert into 13 standard sized Ocado CFCs with three more being built.

Ladd believes Ocado has made a strategic mistake in how it manages the relationship with Kroger, and the latter has failed miserably to take full advantage of everything the former has to offer. For example, Ocado allowed Kroger to make too many decisions related to strategy and location of the CFCs, and it has harmed the relationship.

Ladd argued: "Kroger’s board of directors has foolishly allowed CEO Rodney McMullen to make one bad decision after another. McMullen is the sole reason why the merger with Albertsons failed. McMullen is the reason why the relationship with Ocado has soured. In my opinion, the board of directors should do the following: Force McMullen to step down, and terminate a large number of the remaining executives; Name Steiner CEO of Kroger; Acquire majority ownership of Ocado or acquire the company; Assess the use of MFCs.”

Walmart and Amazon continue to expand the use of robotics for grocery fulfillment. Kroger has fallen behind, Ladd believes.

He concluded: "Kroger must maximise the relationship with Ocado because it represents the future.Too many of Kroger’s executives live in the past and lack the ability to embrace a technology driven Kroger. A combined Kroger Ocado will provide Kroger with a competitive advantage. It will make Ocado a better company. A merger makes perfect sense."

2025 RTIH INNOVATION AWARDS

Supply chain technology will be a key focus area at the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards. which will open for entries in April, celebrate global tech innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our 2024 hall of fame entrants were revealed during an event which took place at RIBA’s 66 Portland Place HQ in Central London on 21st November, and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by comedian Lucy Porter.

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “The event is now into its sixth year and what a journey it has been. The awards started life as an online only affair during the Covid outbreak, before launching as a small scale in real life event and growing year on year to the point where we’re now selling out this fine, historic venue.”

He added: “Congratulations to all of our finalists. Many submissions did not make it through to the final stage, and getting to this point is no mean feat. Checkout-free stores, automated supply chains, immersive experiences, on-demand delivery, next-generation loyalty offerings, inclusive retail, green technology. We’ve got all the cool stuff covered this evening.”

“But just importantly we’ve got lots of great examples of companies taking innovative tech and making it usable in everyday operations - resulting in more efficiency and profitability in all areas.”

Congratulations to our 2024 winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Lucy Porter, and all those who attended November's gathering. 

For further information on the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards, please fill in the below form and we will get back to you asap.