Ocado sales climb in third quarter as order numbers grow

Ocado said it had achieved 11.4% growth in average orders per week to 283,000 and that its average order size was “stable” at £106.

The etailer said its latest fulfilment centres in Andover, Hants and Erith, London performed well.

Ocado chief executive Tim Steiner said: “The new capacity from Andover and Erith, our robotic third and fourth warehouses, is helping meet consumer demand for our services and drive the channel shift which is transforming grocery retailing in the UK.

“We are proud to have opened our Erith customer fulfilment centre this summer on time and on budget. At full capacity, this latest state-of-the-art CFC will be the largest automated warehouse for online grocery in the world.”

Steiner said last week Erith processed more than 20,000 customer orders 14 weeks after opening – a number that had taken Andover 15 months to achieve, which he maintained was testament to Ocado’s “unique and proprietary technology”.

Ocado has been selling its technology to other retailers globally, and most recently struck a deal with US giant Kroger.

Steiner maintained: “Ocado’s technology is bringing greater value, quality and convenience to British shoppers while at the same time helping our partners redefine the shopping experience for their own customers.

“We are on track to deliver a significant number of new CFCs for our solutions partners in the coming years and as such are fulfilling our goal of changing the way the world shops.”