Ocado must grapple with reopening of most of economy, which has seen demand for online shopping fall from peaks reached at height of Covid crisis
Ocado has seen demand for its services soar during the coronavirus pandemic.
The online supermarket, which releases its third-quarter trading update on Tuesday, saw its waiting list swell to more than 1m as families sought to get their shopping delivered during lockdown.
At the same time, the business successfully launched a partnership to deliver shopping for Marks & Spencer last year.
But it must now grapple with the reopening of most of the economy, which has seen demand for online shopping fall from the peaks reached at the height of the Covid-19 crisis.
And investors will also be looking for new guidance on how it plans to push ahead with selling its pioneering robot warehouse technology to other grocers.
This part of its business – known as Ocado Solutions – is seen as most promising and Ocado has already struck deals to supply the likes of Kroger in the United States, Casino in France and Aeon in Japan with its technology.
In July the firm also agreed to provide state-of-the-art warehouses for multinational giant Auchan Retail in Spain.
Analysts say the firm may have ‘struck gold’ with this deal in particular, as Auchan operates in another 12 countries that Ocado may be able to expand into as well.
Susannah Streeter, an analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: ‘While the successful partnership with M&S still has potential to expand, it’s the Ocado Solutions business which could turbo charge growth.’