Online grocer Ocado has announced that the average number of weekly orders has surpassed 200,000.
Fourth quarter performance was strong, with retail sales rising 13% to £351.8m in the 16 weeks to 29 November, up from £311.4m a year earlier, but that was a slowing from a 15.3% in its third quarter.
Full year retail sales rose 14.7% to £1.1bn, albeit also slightly lower than the 15% rise recorded in the fourth quarter last year.
CEO Tim Steiner said, 'We are pleased to report the thirteenth consecutive quarter of double-digit sales growth in what is a challenging and competitive grocery retail environment. Order growth remains strong with average orders per week now exceeding 200,000.
'This reflects the ongoing shift to online grocery shopping and the specific value customers place on Ocado's leading proposition, offering the highest service levels and widest range. Our basket value declined as we remain competitive by following market moves in pricing.
'We are committed to further improving our offer to customers and to driving operational and capital efficiency across the business, which we believe will support growth. We anticipate the retail environment to remain challenging, but expect to continue growing sales ahead of the online grocery market.'