Ocado has reported a substantial increase in sales over the four weeks leading up to Christmas.

Sales soared 49% in the week leading up to Christmas to a total of £8.9 million, with deliveries of 3.5 million items being made to 42,000 customers. For the four weeks to 26 December, sales were up 30% on 2008, to £40.8 million. The overall number of orders received in the four weeks increased 34.5% to 299,291, with the average customer spending £136 over the four weeks.

“The rock of our success is our fantastic team; this year more than ever they made extraordinary efforts, particularly in the bad weather during Christmas week, making it to work and making deliveries in very difficult road conditions,” says Tim Steiner, Ocado’s CEO. “While we did cancel a small number of deliveries due to snow in the lead-up to Christmas, our staff worked tirelessly to contact customers and we were able to offer all of them a re-delivery before Christmas Day.

Related news

• Ocado unveils 29% sales growth
• John Lewis and Waitrose report online sales rise this Christmas
• Early signs suggest booming sales online in the final week of the Christmas shopping season
• Tesco Direct sales up 50% over Christmas shopping period
• Tesco and Ocado report lifts in online sales
• ‘Beginning to look like Christmas’ as online sales rise