Ocado makes strong start to year
Ocado Retail, the joint venture between Ocado and Marks & Spencer, has seen its retail revenue increase by 10.6% to £645.3 million in its first quarter.
While volumes grew by 8.1% year-on-year, average orders per week were up 8.4% to 414,000 compared with the same period in the prior year.
Meanwhile, the number of active customers had climbed by 6.4% to 1.02 million by the end of the quarter. Average basket value was also up, rising by 2.1%, while basket size was stable year-on-year.
Hannah Gibson, Ocado Retail’s chief executive, said: “We have made a strong start to the year, building on the momentum we established in 2023 through the progress of our Perfect Execution programme.
“During the first quarter, we stepped up our efforts: enriching our product range with the strong growth of core M&S grocery lines and the debut of Makers Market, using our unique model to showcase incredible small brands; further enhancing slot and product availability; and lowering the price of 1,700 more products in our latest Big Price Drop promotion alongside further expanding the Ocado Own Range.”
Ocado Retail is maintaining the guidance issued on 29 February for mid-high single digit percentage full year revenue growth.
Gibson added: “Our strategy is resonating with customers and volume growth is building well. There’s still so much more we can do and I’m looking forward to raising the bar even further in 2024.”
