Ocado cheers sales growth after enticing more shoppers with M&S food

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.

“2024 was a year of strong growth. In the fourth quarter, we accelerated sales again – reaching 500,000 orders per week for the first time, at the end of November,” Ms Gibson said.

“We’ve made a series of significant improvements  – including making sure customers can buy all their favourite M&S products, ensuring our service is near perfect, shifting our value perceptions as customers realise how much we’ve moved on price and helping new customers discover Ocado.”