Online grocer Ocado has come under fresh scrutiny in the wake of rival Amazon’s $10.7bn (£8.3bn) swoop on Whole Foods.

Analysts at Deutsche Bank have published a bearish 68-page note disparaging Ocado’s growth potential following renewed speculation about how the UK grocery market could be shaken-up by the Amazon’s move into physical food retailing.

The German bank’s analysts have questioned the online grocer’s business model, which relies on a handful of distribution warehouses – sometimes referred to as dark stores – and fleets of vans and trucks to deliver food orders to customers.

“We conclude that after 15 years of operations, we do not believe that its automated picking model exhibits a cost advantage in fulfillment versus store based retailers," Niamh McSherry, analyst at Deutsche Bank, said.