Ocado Retail Launches 'Buy Women Built' Landing Page
Ocado Retail has launched a "Buy Women Built" landing page at Ocado.com, carrying more than 1,000 products from 130 female-founded businesses.
Buy Women Built is a campaign dedicated to raising awareness of women entrepreneurs and helping to grow female-led businesses in the United Kingdom. Ocado Retail is a joint venture between Ocado Group and M&S Group, billing itself as the world’s largest online grocer.
Coffee Republic founder and author Sahar Hashemi and brand and marketing specialist Barny Macaulay were the brains behind this idea, which they hatched during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Thanks to the vision of [Ocado Retail CEO] Hannah Gibson we're not just creating an aisle here — we’re creating a movement to close the entrepreneurial gender gap and inspire the next generation of female founders," Hashemi wrote in a LinkedIn post.
Now, banners on Ocado’s app and website and their “Inspire Me” tabs direct shoppers to the page, which includes products from several categories including food and beverage, health and beauty, dietary and lifestyle, household, and baby. Piccolo, Evolve Beauty, Nails Inc., Neat and Deliciously Ella are among the brands sold on the site.
"Female entrepreneurship rates in the U.K. are 30% behind other developed countries," Hashemi told The Times for an article about the launch. "Confidence is a huge issue — women don't feel they’ve got what it takes. Showing people that so many brands are in fact created by women leads more female entrepreneurs to think, 'We can do this.' It's a way to make future generations see the power of women."
Ocado Retail's Buy Women First page puts it in the company of retailers such as Target and Walmart, who also have pages dedicated to women-owned brands.
In related news, Ocado debuted its own retailer media network, Ocado Ads, in September. The solutions enable brand partners to serve relevant advertising and create a personalized experience for shoppers.