Retail Week looks ahead to the next seven days, with updates from Ocado, Kingfisher and the latest grocery sales data all on the agenda.

Ocado

The online grocer will report its third-quarter trading on Tuesday, September 19. Ocado posted a decline in first-half profits at its last update despite rising sales and customer numbers after investing in a new fulfilment centre.

Investors will be keen to hear whether boss Tim Steiner is going to reveal the identity of the as yet unnamed European retailer using Ocado’s Smart Platform technology and to hear what he thinks of Amazon’s commitment to slash Whole Foods prices.

Earlier this year, Steiner shrugged off the deal and insisted that it would help Ocado to sell its technology as the deal made the US grocers “more alert to channel shift”. It will be intriguing to see whether this has translated into a concrete deal.

Kantar/Nielsen grocery sales

Kantar and Nielsen will release their data on supermarket sales on Tuesday, September 19. Last month, Nielsen found that sales growth slowed as cooler weather ground two months of surging supermarket sales to a halt.

Despite the slowdown, competitor Kantar Worldpanel suggested the big four grew sales for the fifth consecutive period – their longest run of growth since 2013.

Kingfisher

The DIY specialist will release its interim figures on Wednesday, September 20.

Kingfisher like-for-likes were hit in the second quarter by bad weather dampening trading at B&Q and disruption to the One Kingfisher five-year transformation plan, slicing off around 2% of sales in the second quarter.

As usual, Screwfix outperformed the rest of the group, chalking up 10.8% like-for-like growth.

It will be interesting to see how the businesses’ two new chief executives are bedding in.

Former Brico Depot Romania boss Christian Mazauric took the reins at B&Q earlier this year after Michael Loeve stepped down after less than two years.

And Screwfix operations and property director Graham Bell has become chief executive of the trade specialist after its boss of four years, Andrew Livingston, quit to become chief executive of Howden Joinery Group.

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