Ocado Retail sales up 39.7% in first quarter
Ocado Retail, the joint venture between Ocado and Marks & Spencer, saw its retail revenue climb by 39.7% to £599 million in its first quarter.
In the 13 weeks to 28 February, the average order size reached £147 due to the strength of sales over the festive period and subsequent Covid-19 lockdown. M&S products consistently accounted for over 25% sales in the average basket.
Meanwhile, the number of average orders per week grew by 2.5% to 329,000.
Melanie Smith, Ocado Retail’s chief executive, said: “Over the past year, large numbers of UK consumers have made a permanent shift to online grocery shopping. Ocado Retail is best placed to serve these customers as we continue to improve the customer experience through the joint venture with M&S, adding new products, offering greater value, and maintaining high customer service levels.”
Ocado Retail has recently opened a first mini customer fulfilment centre in Bristol and is planning to launch two standard sized facilities in the current financial year as it looks to ramp up its overall capacity by 40%. The company is also seeking a minimum of 12 new micro sites, primarily in the London area, to support the roll-out of Ocado Zoom which offers deliveries within one hour of ordering.
Looking ahead, Smith added: “Q2 2021 represents the one year anniversary of the start of the Covid-19 pandemic which accelerated the demand for online grocery; while this year’s quarterly sales figures will reflect the year-on-year comparisons with periods of full lockdown, we expect strong growth over the coming years as we continue to lead the charge in changing the UK grocery landscape, for good.”
