Ocado sales rise as customer proposition strengthened

Ocado Retail, a joint venture with Marks & Spencer, generated a 7.2% advance in retail revenue of £569.6m in the third quarter and there was a return to volume growth at the end of the period.

Ocado launched a ‘perfect execution’ programme in January as it sought to improve a performance that had moderated in the aftermath of the pandemic, and said the initiative has “further strengthened our customer proposition”. The retailer has also cut prices as grocers have battled to woo customers as inflation has rocketed.

Ocado reported that average orders per week rose 1.9% year on year, “lapping a strong customer acquisition push this time last year” and that active customers were ahead by 1.5%.

The grocer’s average basket value rose 4.2% and the number of items per basket “remained broadly stable”. Average selling price increased 8.4% year on year, which Ocado said was “considerably lower than market inflation”.

Ocado Retail chief executive Hannah Gibson said: “It has now been a year since I joined Ocado Retail and in January we set out our perfect execution strategy, making sure every element of our customer proposition and our operating model is at its best.

“We are delivering on this plan and have great momentum in the business, with revenue growing faster in Q3 than in H1 and a return to positive volume growth in the last month of the quarter. The continued progress underpins our confidence in delivering our guidance of mid-single-digit revenue growth and full-year profitability, and we have started the final quarter positively.

“We continue to deepen our collaboration with M&S, including hundreds of new M&S lines set to launch in the autumn. Together with our partners, we are intent on bringing even lower prices, more choice, and greater convenience to our customers. We are making good progress, but we want to go even further.”