{"id":9326,"date":"2022-03-17T09:57:04","date_gmt":"2022-03-17T09:57:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/03\/17\/ocado-sales-hit-as-workers-return-to-the-office\/"},"modified":"2022-03-17T09:57:04","modified_gmt":"2022-03-17T09:57:04","slug":"ocado-sales-hit-as-workers-return-to-the-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/03\/17\/ocado-sales-hit-as-workers-return-to-the-office\/","title":{"rendered":"Ocado sales hit as workers return to the office"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Ocado has reported a drop in sales as customers return to pre-pandemic shopping habits and costs rise.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In the three months to the end of February, the online grocer’s retail sales fell 5.7% to \u00a3574.7 million.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It said the return of workers to the office and the “euphoria” about going back to restaurants after restrictions were eased had reduced demand.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Rising costs and changing shopping habits led the group to lower its revenue guidance for the year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The company now expects annual retail sales growth to be “closer to 10%,” down from the mid-teens it said last month.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But the latest quarter’s results also reflect a harsh comparison to last year when the UK was in lockdown, Ocado added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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  • The worst for food price hikes – Tesco<\/li>\n
  • Store prices are rising faster than they have in ten years<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    \u201cThe main thing we see [now] is people’s willingness to behave more like they did before Covid,” Ocado said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    “However, we have two compensating things at the moment where some people are still working from home several days a week – and that is a ‘basket booster’. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    “But that’s offset by a bit of euphoria at the fact that we can go back to a restaurant after being locked up for two years [during Covid-related restrictions].”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    Compared to pre-pandemic levels, Ocado’s retail sales rose 31.7% in the quarter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    “The last quarter was encouraging for Ocado Retail, despite the clear challenges facing the industry and consumers,” said Melanie Smith, chief executive officer of Ocado Retail. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    “As we have seen since the end of Covid restrictions, the average basket value and week’s form continue to normalize as we return to the rhythm of our pre-Covid lives.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    Though the average customer’s cart size has dropped by 15%, Ocado said it’s been encouraged by an increase in the number of new shoppers on the platform.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    However, the retailer acknowledged that the war in Ukraine and uncertainty about how demand will change during the cost-of-living crisis made it difficult to predict sales.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    You have already increased the prices of some products “where the costs could not be reduced”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    However, price increases are not yet as high as the current inflation rate, which is 5.5% – the highest level in 30 years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    The group also insisted that they are a “price follower” trying to match the prices of its major competitors. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    Tesco’s chairman recently warned that as food prices soar, “the worst is yet to come”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    John Allan told the BBC he was aware that people are on very tight budgets and the choice between eating out and heating “worries us”, but added that grocers and suppliers are not immune to rising energy costs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    Ocado noted that it could be particularly affected by rising energy costs due to the amount needed to run the refrigerators in its distribution centers and the fuel needs of its drivers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    Separately, online delivery giant Deliveroo reported that its losses have deepened as the costs of its rapid expansion mount.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    The company posted a pre-tax loss of \u00a3298m for the year, compared with a loss of \u00a3213m in 2020, but stressed it had a long-term profitability plan.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    It said its heavy losses over the past year were caused by big investments in marketing and technology improvements as it tried to keep up momentum in orders, which were boosted during the lockdown, similar to Ocado.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    Orders in the UK increased by 72%. But it also forecast a slowdown in growth in the coming year. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    Susannah Streeter, Senior Markets Analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “For now it appears that some pandemic habits are persisting, with restaurant deliveries remaining popular, on-demand groceries increasingly in demand and a growing revenue stream for Deliveroo. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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    “But pressures on the cost of living are intensifying, and as savings are being eaten away, there may be less appetite to pay for an easier life.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Ocado has reported a drop in sales as customers return to pre-pandemic shopping habits and costs rise. In the three months to the end of February, the online grocer’s retail sales fell 5.7% to \u00a3574.7 million. It said the return of workers to the office and the “euphoria” about going back to restaurants after restrictions […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business"],"yoast_head":"\nOcado sales hit as workers return to the office - Tahrir News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/03\/17\/ocado-sales-hit-as-workers-return-to-the-office\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ocado sales hit as workers return to the office\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ocado has reported a drop in sales as customers return to pre-pandemic shopping habits and costs rise. 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