Ocado first quarter sales have surged 10.6% thanks to an uptick in customer numbers as it continues its investment into strengthening its product offering.
The online grocer’s revenue jumped to £645.3m in the 13 weeks to 3 March, up from £583.7m, as active shopper numbers rose 6.4% to over 1 million at the end of the period.
Volumes increased 8.1% to £242.1m with average basket value up 2.1% at £125.47m.
Ocado Retail chief executive Hannah Gibson said: “Our strategy is resonating with customers and volume growth is building well.”
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Gibson attributed the positive first quarter performance to “the strong growth of core M&S grocery lines and the debut of Makers Market”, which spotlights smaller brands.
She added that Ocado had also expanded its own-branded range, lowered the price of 1,700 more products, and increased its general product and delivery slot availability.
Average orders per week for the online grocer rose 8.4% to 414,000 “reflecting strong growth in active customers” and increased market share, which reached 13.5% at the end of February.
Gibson said: ‘We have made a strong start to the year, building on the momentum we established in 2023 through the progress of our Perfect Execution programme.
“We are delivering improvements in our proposition for customers, across unbeatable choice, unrivalled service and reassuringly good value.
“There’s still so much more we can do and I’m looking forward to raising the bar even further in 2024.”
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