Ocado Retail has delivered a record-breaking Christmas, with sales from the festive season driven by new shoppers seeking M&S products.

The online supermarket’s retail sales grew by 17.5% to £715.8m in the 13 weeks ending 1 December, as its fourth quarter saw volumes, or total items, on Ocado.com rise 17% year-on-year and average basket value grow by 16.9%.

However, the retailer also experienced a strong full year, with its retail sales for the 52 weeks ending 1 December up by 13.9% to £2.68bn.

Here volumes also grew by 12.9%, while average orders per week increased by 12.5%, boosted by growth in active customer base of 12.1% to 1.1m.

Ocado Retail CEO Hannah Gibson said: “We’ve achieved this growth by being laser focused on customer service and delivering unbeatable choice, unrivalled service and reassuringly good value to the households and families that we serve.

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“We’ve made a series of significant improvements – including making sure customers can buy all their favourite M&S products, ensuring our service is near perfect, shifting our value perceptions as customers realise how much we’ve moved on price and helping new customers discover Ocado.”

The grocer said it gained new shoppers as a result of its “extensive” seasonal range across M&S, citing customer favourites such as hot honey halloumi to pigs in blankets, a showstopper entertaining range and cheeses from a wide range of suppliers including Paxton and Whitfield.

Ocado also noted the popularity of low and no alcohol drinks during the festive season.

Gibson continued: “2024 was a year of strong growth. In the fourth quarter, we accelerated sales again – reaching 500,000 orders per week for the first time, at the end of November.

“As we enter the next phase of our strategy, we are excited about the future of online grocery and our role in shaping it. Priorities for this year are raising the bar again in our leading customer proposition, making further progress on improving profitability and transitioning the business onto new technology platforms.”