Ocado boosts tech investment as sales jump in coronavirus pandemic
Ocado today said it would stump up £700 million for new projects for its technology clients in 2021 as group sales in the year to 29th November reached £2.3 billion.
Its retail arm, a joint venture tie-up with Marks & Spencer, recorded revenue growth of 35.3% to around £2.2 billion.
At the same time, however, Ocado expects to incur “significantly higher” legal costs amid a patent row with rival AutoStore.
The company is building a number of automated fulfilment centres similar to the three facilities in the UK that handle its own retail JV.
Ocado said in a statement "The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the rate of channel shift to online.”
"Online grocery market share in the UK has nearly doubled over the last year to 14%, according to Kantar. Similar trends are observable in the United States as well as many other countries around the world."
Sign up for our free retail technology newsletter here.
Featured
