Ocado sales up 14.4%
Online grocer Ocado has reported a 14.4% increase in sales as it revealed that it is in talks with the Morrisons supermarket chain to launch an online food store.
In a statement issued today, Ocado said that the discussions could lead to an agreement where Morrisons licensed some of Ocado’s existing and future intellectual property and operating knowledge to launch an online grocery business in 2014.
However, Ocado stressed that any agreement would not affects its existing partnership with Waitrose.
In a trading update also issued today, Ocado said that sales in the 12 weeks to 24 February rose to 14.4% £185.5 million.
Never Miss a Retail Update!The company saw its average orders per week increase by 12% year-on-year to 130,995. The average order size rose by 2.2% to £117.99.
Ocado opened a second customer fulfilment centre in Warwickshire in the period which delivered its first customer orders delivered on 24 February.
In addition, the company’s first dedicated non-food distribution centre became operational in January, one month ahead of schedule, supporting the strategy for further sales and range growth in non-food.
Chief executive Tim Steiner, said: “We maintained the momentum in sales growth and new customer acquisition with which we entered the year,”
“Further improvements to the proposition to customers that we are making this year should enhance our appeal to shoppers and enable us to continue this momentum.”
