Ocado raises revenue guidance after surge in customers during the summer

The online retailer said revenue rose 15.5% year on year to £658m for the quarter ending September 1, while average orders per week rose 14.7% to 437,000

Ocado has raised its revenue guidance for the year to double-digit percentage growth following a significant increase in customers over the summer months.

The online retailer reported a 15.5% year-on-year rise in revenue to £658m for the quarter ending September 1, with average weekly orders increasing by 14.7% to 437,000. Despite average selling prices falling by 0.4% across the group, Ocado, which operates as a joint venture with Marks & Spencer, saw an increase in customers, with 1.06 million people shopping with the retailer during this period, compared to 961,000 in the same period last year.

Hannah Gibson, Ocado Retail’s chief executive, said: “Our strategy remains focused on giving our customers unbeatable choice, unrivalled service and reassuringly good value. We’re seeing the momentum of this, with more customers shopping with us more often, getting even better service at better value.”

While revenue was up compared to the third quarter of last year, it also marked an acceleration from first-half growth of 11%, as orders and volume growth picked up. Analysts at Bernstein noted on Thursday that the revenue growth represented a “strong performance” from the retailer. This growth is stronger than recent market data from Kantar, which suggested growth of 12.9% over the summer months.

However, this still outpaced the wider online grocery market where sales grew by 4.4% compared with a year ago, according to Kantar. In July, Ocado announced that its first half losses had almost halved, with better-than-expected earnings from its robotic warehouse division. The company reported a pre-tax loss of £154million for the six months leading up to June 2, compared to losses of £290 million the previous year.