Ocado sales boosted by increased capacity
Ocado grew its retail revenue by 11.4% to £386.3 million in the 13 weeks to 1 September following an increase in capacity at its customer fulfilment centre in Erith.
In the online grocery retailer’s first trade update from Ocado Retail, its new joint venture with Marks & Spencer, it said average weekly orders were up 12.1% after more delivery slots were made available to customers.
However, average order size was down 0.8% due to a slight increase in the frequency customer orders.
Melanie Smith, Ocado Retail’s new chief executive, said: “These first set of results from the joint venture between Ocado Group and M&S show the resilience of Ocado following the Andover fire and the momentum the business now has. As we continue to enhance our offering and add more capacity in the UK, our leading partnership will deliver the very best experience to an ever-growing number of customers.”
The joint venture will enable M&S to launch its full food range online for the first time. Customers will be able to add M&S products to their Ocado shopping from September 2020 at the latest.
Tim Steiner, Ocado Group’s chief executive, said: “As chairman of Ocado Retail, I would like to welcome Mel to her new role. We are all very excited at the opportunity ahead of her and her team. Together, we are committed to improving even further the Ocado customer experience and growing the business to the benefit of all our stakeholders.”
