Ocado sales jumped 7.2% in its third quarter as the online grocer returned to volume growth last month after the launch of its big price cut campaign.
The online grocer had been under pressure to improve performance after Archie Norman, the chair of joint venture partner M&S told shareholders he was “not happy” with its performance at its AGM in July.
However, the sales growth in the third quarter to 27 August showed an “accelerating trend” on the 5% growth it achieved in the first half.
The retailer said its ‘Perfect Execution Programme’, which new chief executive Hannah Gibson launched in January, had strengthened its customer proposition, whilst its price credentials were boosted by its recent Big Price Drop campaign.
Average orders per week edged up 1.9% to 381,000, despite strong comparatives, whilst its average basket value rose 4.2%. However, its average selling price was up 8.4% year-on-year, which it pointed out was “considerably lower than market inflation”.
It said that the number of ‘perfect deliveries’ it made remained at high levels.
The retailer celebrated the “positive momentum” as it headed into its fourth quarter and said its guidance of mid-single digit sales growth and full-year profitability remained unchanged as it started its final quarter “positively”.
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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.”
“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.”
Ocado will open its new robotic customer fulfilment centre in Luton today, which Gibson said would enable “huge leaps forward in fulfilment productivity and a better experience for our customers”.
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