Ocado sees revenues surge by 40.4% during coronavirus lockdown

Online supermarket Ocado has revealed retail revenues surged by 40.4 per cent for the past two months as demand soared due to the coronavirus pandemic.

However, it said “more normal shopping patterns have returned” in recent weeks.

Ocado said it had ramped up its capacity “significantly” in order to support the rise in demand, running its warehouses close to their peak capacity and highest efficiency.

Tim Steiner, chief executive officer of Ocado Group, said: “We are facing quite a different challenge to many, as we scale up Ocado.com to play its part in feeding the nation, and as we help our clients launch and roll out their online businesses more rapidly against a backdrop of a likely long-term increase in demand for online.

“Ocado remains in a strong position and while we should be grateful that our current challenges are around growth, expansion and increased demand, we have great empathy for all who are facing different challenges at this time.

“In retail, we are working with our small suppliers to make sure we pay them earlier than normal and we will work closely with any who are struggling.”

Source: Evening Standard