Ocado cheers sales growth after enticing more shoppers with M&S food
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Ocado has cheered a jump in sales as the online grocer said it attracted more customers who were shopping more frequently. The company, which is run as a joint venture with Marks & Spencer, said it made £2.7 billion in revenues for the year to December 1, nearly 14% higher than the previous year.
This was driven by a higher number of customers and average weekly orders, and a greater selection of products available to buy including M&S ranges. It had some 1.1 million active customers over the latest year, with the average value of each person’s shopping basket edging up to about £122, Ocado said.
Ocado is the UK’s 10th largest supermarket, with a 1.8% share of the grocery market, according to the latest review by analysts Kantar. Tesco is the country’s largest, with a 28.5% share of the market. For the group’s final quarter, Ocado reported revenues of £715.8 million, 17.5% higher than the same period a year earlier.
The average selling price of each item sold remained at £2.75, it said. It also said it enjoyed the highest level of sales over the peak Christmas trading period, with shoppers splashing out on items from the M&S party food selection like pigs in blankets, a range of cheeses, and low and no alcohol drinks.
Hannah Gibson, Ocado Retail’s chief executive, said that lowering its prices had helped attract more customers over the past year – with the online retailer promising to match prices with an equivalent order on Tesco’s website on some 10,000 products.
