Ocado’s share price is back where it started. Are its robots just too fancy?

Delivery company struggling to convince US chain Kroger, its most important customer, of the virtues of automation

That's quite a stock market journey: from 180p at listing 15 years ago to the mighty heights of 29 during the locked-down Covid year of 2020 and now - oh dear - all the way back down to 180p. Welcome to Ocado, which looked like the future of grocery retailing once upon a time but now seems to be struggling to convince its most important customer of the virtues of robots and automation.

There is no positive gloss to put on news that Kroger, the US supermarket chain, is closing three of its eight warehouses that use Ocado's technology. Kroger was the client that put a rocket under the UK group's share price in the first place in 2018 by signing a partnership deal. If Ocado could prove the worth of its kit in the world's largest consumer market, went the bulls' argument, valuation doubts would disappear.