LONDON (Reuters) – UK-based online supermarket and technology company, Ocado, announced on Monday that its first robotic warehouse in Asia, built for its Japanese partner Aeon, has officially launched.
Ocado, referring to its warehouses as customer fulfilment centres (CFCs), has begun accepting orders from customers in the Kanto region for Aeon’s popular brand, “Green Beans”.
Back in 2019, Ocado forged a partnership with Aeon in anticipation of the Japanese company achieving an online grocery sales capacity of around 600 billion yen ($4.21 billion) by 2030, and 1 trillion yen by 2035.
Furthermore, Ocado disclosed that Aeon’s second CFC in Japan will be located in Hachioji, Tokyo, with plans for additional centres in the pipeline.
“Grocery spend in Asia is projected to outpace all other regions worldwide in the coming decade, and online channels continue to dominate grocery sales across the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region,” stated Ocado CEO Tim Steiner.
Ocado’s shares experienced a 34% decline over the past year; however, they witnessed a surge of up to 47% on June 22 following a report by The Times, which suggested possible takeover interest from Amazon.com.
($1 = 142.4600 yen)
(Reporting by James Davey, Editing by Kylie MacLellan)
Credit: The Star : Tech Feed
