Ocado’s share price took a 7% tumble back in July, after rumours that Amazon’s home delivery service, Amazon Fresh, was set to touch down on UK shores cast a shadow on the delivery firm’s prospects.
Speculation remains rife concerning Amazon Fresh’s appearance, following last month's news that the online retail giant signed a lease on two former supermarket warehouses and said it would create 275 new driver jobs – all very suspicious, but Amazon still declined to comment on whether it planned to get “Fresh” with the home delivery market.
Meanwhile Ocado’s little wobble seems to have had little or no bearing on its Q3 results, which demonstrate healthy levels of growth across the board.
For the nine week period ending 9 August 2015, the group’s gross sales amounted to £272m – a 17% increase on the £231.9m it generated for the same period in 2014.
Its average weekly orders reflect the rise in sales, with a 16.6% jump from 163,000 for Q3 2014 to 190,000 this year.
Ocado chief executive Tim Steiner said: "We are pleased with the continued steady growth of our business in a retail environment that remains tough.
"We believe our commitment to improving what we offer to customers through innovation and our proprietary IP will support further growth. Notwithstanding the competitive nature of the marketplace, we expect to continue growing slightly ahead of the online grocery market."
What bearing Amazon Fresh would have on the UK’s grocery home delivery market remains to be seen, if indeed it makes an appearance at all.
In the meantime, however, Ocado seems to have kept its foot firmly in the door, its sales figures high and its groceries in the kitchen.