Metro’s online food sales double thanks to Uber Eats, Instacart popularity
Global News
Metro Inc. says that a surge in purchases through Uber Eats and Instacart helped more than double its online food sales in the company's first fiscal quarter of the year.
A surge in customers ordering groceries over Uber Eats and Instacart helped push sales higher at Metro Inc. in the company’s first fiscal quarter of the year.
The Montreal-based grocer said Tuesday that it saw 105 per cent year-over-year jump in online food sales for the three-months ending Dec. 23.
A spokesperson for Metro told Global News in an emailed statement that its partnerships, specifically with the companies behind Uber Eats and Instacart, helped the grocer to “significantly increase our online sales in a rather stable market.”
Global News asked how much of its quarterly sales were tied to the online channels, but was told that the company does not disclose those breakdowns.
Metro’s sales for the 12-week period totalled $4.97 billion, up 6.5 per cent from $4.67 billion in the year-earlier quarter that ended on Dec. 17, 2022.
Food same-store sales were up 6.1 per cent, helped in part by the timing of the end of the quarter relative to Christmas. Adjusting for the Christmas week shift, Metro says food same-store sales were up 3.4 per cent. Pharmacy same-store sales were up 3.9 per cent.
The company said its food basket inflation rate was 4.0 per cent, down from 5.5 per cent in the previous quarter.
Metro Inc. CEO Eric La Flèche said Tuesday that retail price increases will start coming to grocery stores as soon as next week, as an industry-wide blackout period on supplier price hikes comes to an end.
