Ocado website reopens after over 48 hours of maintenance

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published 21 March 2020

The Ocado website has now reopened after 'closing' for maintenance on Wednesday. The company said the extra demand of both existing and new shoppers was making it hard to fulfill orders and manage the traffic. They continued to allow customers with imminent orders to edit their trollies, but prevented further visitors, to ensure a manageable shopping experience for those they considered a priority.

This came after the Ocado app was temporarily closed on the weekend, and Ocado implemented a virtual queueing system on the site to allow only a certain number of people on at any one time.

The time offline has allowed Ocado to restock and better equip the site for what is predicted to be a time of unprecedented demand. Along with many of the top grocery delivery services an influx of additional orders has prevented normal site function and seen many items constantly out of stock.

While the Ocado site is back up and running, it is currently for customers with an order for this weekend already registered. For others, the message is 'If you have a delivery booked next week, or want to book a new delivery, there’s no need to wait in the queue. Close your window and we will be in touch to let you know when you can access the website. Please note, that in this time of unusual demand, we have made the call to temporarily prioritise deliveries for existing registered customers. We will not be processing new customer bookings for the time being. We are very sorry to have to disappoint anyone that chooses Ocado, and we’re working hard to increase our delivery capacity.'

Once there, customers are encouraged to attempt their shop in one visit, rather than adding lots of items last minute. They are also reminded to be considerate and only buy what they really need as stock-pile fever sweeps the nation. Ocado will continue to impose limits on certain products so that everyone can get the essentials needed.

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Lindsey is Editor of Realhomes.com and Editor in Chief for Home Ecommerce at Future. She is here to give you aspirational, yet attainable ideas for your home and works with her team to help you get the best buys, too. She has written about homes and interiors for the best part of a decade for brands including Homes & Gardens, Ideal Home and Gardeningetc and isn't afraid to take the inspiration she finds at work into her own space – a Victorian terrace which she has been (slowly) remodelling for the last eight years. She is happiest sipping a cup of tea with a cat on her lap (if only she had a cat).