In a significant move marking the expansion of automated grocery retail in Asia, UK’s leading online supermarket, Ocado, has successfully launched its inaugural robotic warehouse in the continent. The technological feat is in collaboration with Aeon, their Japanese partner.
Known as the Customer Fulfilment Centre (CFC), the warehouse is already processing orders for Aeon’s “Green Beans” brand for customers scattered across Japan’s Kanto region.
This robust partnership that started in 2019 projected that by 2030, Aeon would have an online grocery sales capacity reaching approximately 600 billion yen ($4.21 billion). The expectation is even more optimistic for 2035 with a sales capacity goal of 1 trillion yen.
Interestingly, this is just the beginning. Aeon’s next CFC in Japan is anticipated to be set up in Hachioji, Tokyo, with additional facilities to follow.
Ocado CEO Tim Steiner expressed his optimism regarding the prospects in the region, stating that the upcoming decade would witness Asia outpacing every other region in grocery spending. Furthermore, he emphasized that the fastest-growing channel across APAC remains to be online.
Despite Ocado’s shares experiencing a 34% decline over the past year, they rebounded impressively, surging up to 47% on June 22. This followed a report from the Times newspaper hinting at a possible takeover interest from Amazon.com.
This news report is based on the article published by marketing-interactive.com.
