Continued delivery of our strategic objectives
Constantly improve the proposition to customers
· Voted Best Online Grocer by Which? Magazine in its members' Annual Satisfaction Survey for the fifth successive year
· Industry leading service levels for on time delivery and in full orders improved further with on time deliveries increased to 95.3% (2013: 95.2%) and order accuracy 99.3% (2013: 99.0%)
· Range at Ocado.com now over 43,000 SKUs (2013: 34,000 SKUs)
· Launch of a second non-food destination site, Sizzle, our dedicated Kitchen and Dining shop with now over 12,000 SKUs complementing Fetch, our pet store which now offers over 8,000 SKUs
· Ongoing price initiatives, with a lower cost of discounts from our Low Price Promise basket matching scheme demonstrating improved price competitiveness
Strengthen consumer brands
· Active customers increased to 453,000 (2013: 385,000), with lower growth in overall marketing spend
· Average basket in period at £112.25 (2013: £113.53), with modest downward impact by standalone orders for Fetch and Sizzle
Develop ever more capital and operationally efficient infrastructure solutions
· Efficiency in both Hatfield and Dordon CFCs improved. Combined CFC UPH 1455 (2013 CFC1 only: 135 UPH)
· Dordon CFC over 150 UPH by the end of the period
· Delivery performance improved to 163 DPV (2013: 160 DPV)
· Completion of major Phase 2 expansion works in Dordon CFC
· Plans announced for CFC3 and CFC4, with building work commenced at CFC3
· Significant development of our next generation fulfilment solution, to be first installed into CFC3
· Four additional spokes opened in the period increasing our delivery capacity, with more to follow in 2015
Enhance end-to-end technology systems
· Web of IP protection continued to build with filing of more patents
· IT systems replatforming progressing well and remains on track
Enable Morrisons and future partners' online businesses
· Morrisons.com successfully launched on 10 January 2014 and ramping up smoothly
· Development of Ocado Smart Platform single service solution to target international online retail business opportunities
· Continued discussions with multiple potential international partners.
Tim Steiner, Chief Executive Officer of Ocado, said:
"Channel shift towards online grocery shopping continued during the period. While the broader grocery market was characterised by intense competition with minimal growth in the segment, declining supermarket store sales, competitive price activity and cautious consumer spending, we continued to grow ahead of the online grocery market and significantly ahead of the market overall.
"At the same time, we invested for further growth in UK grocery, non-food and platform opportunities given the attraction of our model in a growing online grocery market.
"Our specialist online pet store, Fetch, is growing at a significant pace, and was joined during the period by Sizzle, our kitchen and dining store. Mobile-enabled shopping continued to grow reflecting the use of smart phones and tablets in daily life, and we expect this to continue supported by our recent launch of a new mobile website.
"We announced plans for our next two CFCs, in Andover and Erith, to add significant capacity to support our future growth. Both of these CFCs will use our new proprietary fulfilment solution, and we expect them to be more efficient than our existing CFCs.
"The successful launch and smooth ramp up of Morrisons.com was particularly encouraging and paves the way for future agreements to commercialise the value of our intellectual property. The development of Ocado Smart Platform, enabled by our IT replatforming and fulfilment solutions projects, positions us well to take advantage of future opportunities as the demand for online grocery shopping increases internationally.
"Overall, we are well equipped to continue to lead the online grocery revolution, in the UK and overseas, as increasing numbers of customers shift away from traditional forms of retailing. We are confident that we have significant opportunities for growth in sales and shareholder value."
