UK online grocer Ocado has booked a market-beating increase in sales as investments in capacity allowed it to fill more orders in its fourth quarter.
The company said today (16 January) sales rose 20.1% in the 16 weeks to 1 December. Gains were primarily driven by an increase in order numbers, which rose 19.1%, while basket size added 0.8% to the top line.
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Ocado CEO Tim Steiner suggested the group’s growth reflected “improvements to our proposition” as well as a growing appetite among UK consumers to shop online.
Assessing the result, Conlumino MD Neil Saunders said “much” of the company’s growth could be attributed to capacity expansion. “Increased capacity … has allowed the average number of orders placed per week to rise by 19.1% across the 16 week period. This growth is obviously necessary if Ocadois to obtain the economies of scale required to move into profitability,” he suggested.
Saunders added the group’s tie-up with Morrisons, which has led the UK’s fourth-largest food retailer to launch online this month, would add another growth avenue that cold “help ease it into profitability”.
Ocado will deliver its preliminary results on 4 February.
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By GlobalDataClick here to view the full sales update from Ocado.
