
Ocado Retail boss Hannah Gibson has insisted the grocer is laser focused on value despite price rise concerns following the Budget.
When asked whether the joint venture between Ocado and M&S could see prices rising following recent tax increases by Labour, Gibson said it will remain “very focussed on the value that we offer”.
She said: “We’ve made a lot of progress in terms of the value that we’re offering consumers, and therefore our value perception with them as well and that continues to remain our focus for the year ahead.”
The executive noted she thought Ocado’s “model overall is somewhat a bit more resilient” and that the “focus of our core model is around efficiency” and “pretty unique” in terms of the sector.
Related Story
However, she explained: “There will be additional costs and we’ll continue to work to make sure we’re mitigating that so we can protect our consumers.”
The comments come as the grocer delivered a strong finish to its financial year, with sales growth accelerating in the fourth quarter as weekly orders reached a milestone of 500,000 for the first time.
The joint venture saw retail sales rise 17.5% to £715.8m in the 13 weeks to 1 December, versus growth of 15.5% in its previous quarter, as active shoppers rose 12.1% to 1.12m.
In a similar move to Gibson, last week M&S CEO Stuart Machin said he will strive to shield customers from the full brunt of rising costs by aiming to “inflate behind the market” like it has done in previous years.
Click here to sign up to Retail Gazette‘s free daily email newsletter