Ocado retail sales up 13.1%
Online supermarket Ocado has reported a 13.1% increase in retail sales in its first quarter.
In the 13 weeks to 26 February, retail sales reached £352.4 million while group sales climbed by 13.3% to £384.7 million.
Average orders per week grew by 16.7% to 252,000 driven by both new and existing Ocado customers.
Average order size fell by 1.6% to £110.84 which was a slower rate of decline than in previous quarters. Ocado said the fall was mainly driven by a reduction in multi-buy promotions and further take up of the Ocado “Smart Pass” which drives customers to shop more frequently.
Ocado’s chief executive Tim Steiner said: “We believe our commitment to further improving the customer experience and service through constant innovation, supported by proprietary technology developments, will enable us to continue to grow ahead of the online grocery market, and substantially ahead of the market overall.”
Looking ahead, he added: “While the market remains very competitive, there are the first signs of a change in market pricing dynamics coming through. However, it remains too early to predict how this will unfold throughout the year, and in particular is dependent on any future currency movements.”
