Ocado saw first quarter revenue at its online joint venture with Marks & Spencer decline by 5.7% year-on-year after it was impacted by a return to a more normal pre-Covid trading environment.
However, sales were up 31.7% when compared to the first quarter of 2020.
While the retailer’s active customer numbers grew by 31% to 835,000, orders increased by 11.6% despite the tail-end impact of labour shortages early in the period.
Meanwhile, the average basket size of £124 was 15% lower than last year due to customer shopping behaviours returning towards pre-Covid levels.
Ocado said it worked closely with suppliers to actively manage inflationary pressures in the period. It has also moved certain retail prices, where costs could not be mitigated, in line with the rest of the market.
Looking ahead, the company said full year revenue growth might be closer to 10% than the mid-teen growth it predicted previously.
