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PRIVACY
Retail & Consumer

Ocado sees º£½ÇÊÓÆµ sales surge amid 'dramatic and permanent' shift to online shopping amid pandemic

The value of its average order has jumped from £110 to £147

Ocado home delivery van(Image: PA)

Ocado has revealed a 40% surge in retail sales amid a "dramatic and permanent" shift towards online shopping since the pandemic struck.

The group said its retail arm joint venture with Marks & Spencer delivered retail revenues of £599m for the 13 weeks to February 28, covering the Christmas trading season - up 39.7% on a year earlier.

The value of its average order jumped from £110 a year before the pandemic struck to £147, which it put down to a festive boost combined with the impact of the latest lockdown.

Ocado processed 329,000 orders a week - up 2.5% on the year before. The company expects revenue growth in the second quarter amid ongoing Covid-19 restrictions and as it ramps up production at its new mini hi-tech warehouse in Bristol, which can process 30,000 orders a week.

Tim Steiner, chief executive of Ocado Group, said: "Over the last 12 months, there has been a dramatic and permanent shift towards online grocery shopping around the world.

"Millions of customers have experienced online grocery shopping through the pandemic and many of them will not be going back to bricks and mortar."

He said even if there was some drop-off in online grocery shopping as º£½ÇÊÓÆµ restrictions ease, Ocado is set for further growth as there are "effectively customers queueing to come on to the Ocado site".

The group said sales and earnings growth is set to ease as it comes up against strong results from a year ago, when the coronavirus crisis hit.