British online supermarket and technology group Ocado said it had boosted its partnership with Japan's Aeon with plans to build a third robotic warehouse.
The third customer fulfilment centre (CFC), as Ocado calls them, will be in Kuki-Miyashiro, the Saitama prefecture of Japan, and will go live in 2027.
The expansion of the partnership is a boost for Ocado after it said last month that its Canadian supermarket partner Sobeys had paused the opening of a fourth robotic warehouse, prompting a slump in Ocado shares.
Read More: Ocado Dealt A 'Massive Blow' As Sobeys Pauses CFC Plans: Analyst
Partnership With Aeon
Ocado entered an exclusive partnership with Aeon in 2019. A first CFC in Chiba-city opened last year, serving customers in the Kanto region. A second based in Hachioji is due to go live in 2026.
Tim Steiner, CEO of Ocado Group, stated, "As demonstrated by the state-of-the-art CFC live in Honda, Ocado is helping AEON NEXT to provide a seamless online grocery experience to customers across Tokyo. We can't wait to bring this service to even more customers in the years to come."
Operations Upgrade
In addition to the network expansion, the partnership will also see Aeon upgrade its live operations with the latest Ocado technologies including what it calls 'On-Grid Robotic Pick'.
Ocado said this will bring increasing levels of labour productivity to Aeon's operations, helping the company to further reduce the cost to serve and address long term challenges of labour availability in Japan.
British online supermarket Ocado Retail kept its guidance for the year as it reported a 10.6% increase in first-quarter revenue reflecting growth in customer numbers.
News by Reuters, additional reporting by ESM.
