Ocado reports quarterly sales rise as customer orders jump 18%

Ocado’s retail sales jumped 18% to £218.8m. Average order size was flat at £117.53 while the number of orders was up 18.4% to 155,152.

The etailer said it gained efficiencies in both its customer fulfilment centres since the end of 2013. Ocado added that Morrisons.com, which Ocado is running in partnership with the supermarket chain, is “progressing well”.

Ocado chief executive Tim Steiner said:  “We are pleased with the continued growth in our business. We remain committed to improving the quality of the offer to customers, which we believe will support further growth.

“Having launched on 10 January, we are pleased with the operational progress of Morrisons.com, with the service expanded to new geographic catchments in February.

“While we are encouraged by our current trading, the retail environment remains both challenging and competitive, and we expect to continue growing in line with, or slightly ahead of, the market.”