Ocado turnover surges in 2020

Ocado’s grocery delivery business, that includes its Marks & Spencer deliveries, saw turnover grow 35% to £2.2bn in 2020, pushed in a large part by the pandemic. Ocado Group however, which includes tech company Ocado Solutions, made a loss of £44 million that compares favourably with the £214.5 million loss in 2019.

Tim Steiner, the Ocado chief executive, said coronavirus has caused a dramatic shift in grocery retail and the landscape was “changing for good. Many customers who have tried online grocery for the first time have seen the benefits and are saying they are unlikely to revert to pre-crisis shopping habits.”

While the grocery delivery market has grown significantly nationwide due to the pandemic, Ocado rapidly reached maximum capacity thanks to its fully automated, robot fulfilment centres not having extra capacity for expansion.

Three new robot fulfilment centres will open in the coming year, allowing Ocado to reach more customers. It also plans to reinvest around £700 million into its technology business.

Ocado’s same day delivery service, Ocado Zoom has already reached full capacity and the company plans to open a new same-day fulfilment centre in London and plans another 12 in the coming year.

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