Ocado shares (LON: OCDO) surged over 5% on Tuesday after the group hailed a “successful switchover” to Marks & Spencer.
In the 13 weeks to 30 August, sales at the group reached £587.3m as the company switched from Waitrose to Marks & Spencer.
“Our aim is to continue to set the bar as we begin again to welcome new customers who are seeing the benefits of online shopping in ever greater numbers and we remain focused and on track to increase capacity by 40% through to 2021,” said Ocado Retail’s chief executive, Melanie Smith.
“As a result, we can now offer customers more choice and better value than ever before, wider ranges than any traditional retailer, and thousands of products that are only available online through Ocado.com.”
The joint venture with Marks & Spencer got off to a rocky start after a surge in demand led to customers having their orders cancelled.
On the switch, the group said: “the weighting of M&S products in the average Ocado basket is higher than Waitrose prior to the switchover, reflecting positive customer reaction to the addition of M&S to the range”.
Online shopping has boomed over lockdown, with Ocado being a clear winner. The group expects strong underlying earnings of £40m this year due to the continued demand.
Ocado shares (LON: OCDO) are trading +5.51% at 2.484,74 (0847GMT).