Ocado saw record sales over the crucial Christmas trading period as the online grocer’s customer numbers soared beyond 1million.
Revenues rocketed 17.5 per cent year-on-year to £715.8million over the fourth quarter of 2024 as order volumes on Ocado.com jumped 17 per cent.
Ocado highlighted joint venture partner Marks and Spencer’ party food selection, including hot honey halloumi and pigs in blankets, as a major driver of sales.
Active customer numbers shot up 12.1 per cent to 1.1million, as average orders per week rose 16.9 per cent.
Average basket value was stable, rising 0.2 per cent to £120.85, while basket size by number of items rose 0.1 per cent 43.9.
Hannah Gibson, chief executive of Ocado Retail, said: ‘We’ve achieved this growth by being laser focused on customer service and delivering unbeatable choice, unrivalled service and reassuringly good value to the households and families that we serve.
‘We’ve made a series of significant improvements – including making sure customers can buy all their favourite M&S products, ensuring our service is near perfect, shifting our value perceptions as customers realise how much we’ve moved on price and helping new customers discover Ocado.’
Ocado sales climb as customer numbers soar to 1.1m
Ocado added that it expects to maintain ‘market-leading sales growth and volume momentum’ in 2025, while making ‘further progress on driving operational efficiency and scale leverage, continuing on our journey towards a high mid-single digit adjusted EBITDA margin in the mid-term’.
It also highlighted progress on the efficiency of its customer fulfilment centres (CFCs), which ‘improved throughout the year’.
Tts network exceeded design capacity over the Christmas period – ‘demonstrating the further growth potential of our CFCs’, Ocado said.
Ocado shares soared 12.2 per cent to 303p in early trading, though remain less than half their value 12 months ago and down by almost 80 per cent over the last five years
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Mark Crouch, market analyst at eToro, said: ‘After what has been a miserable few years for shareholders, more will be needed to recapture the dizzy heights of 2020, as the cold hard truth is that despite all the prospects and potential, Ocado has yet to deliver consistent profitability.
‘While profitability could set in quickly, there are growing murmurs that perhaps Marks & Spencer—who have a business partnership with Ocado and have demonstrated an astonishing turnaround over the last two years—should have more control to increase those odds.
‘If Ocado’s shares don’t start performing soon, shareholders may begin calling for it as well.’
Chris Beckett, head of equity research at Quilter Cheviot, added that a ‘meaningful uplift’ in Ocado shares will require the group to secure more international orders for its warehouse and logistics technology.
He said: ‘These partnerships, which form the backbone of its global expansion strategy, are essential for diversifying revenue streams and demonstrating scalability.
‘Success on this front could act as a catalyst for re-rating its valuation in the market.
‘At the same time, capacity constraints during peak periods, such as Christmas, underline the need for further investment in infrastructure over time, potentially in the form of new warehouses, to meet growing demand and sustain its growth trajectory.’
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