8
July 2024
Ocado Group plc
("Ocado")
Ocado and AEON announce a
third Customer Fulfilment Centre in Japan
Ocado Group plc ("Ocado") and AEON
have announced the continued expansion of their partnership, with
plans to construct a third Customer Fulfilment Centre ("CFC") in
Kuki-Miyashiro, the Saitama prefecture of Japan.
Ocado entered an exclusive
partnership with AEON in 2019 to develop the online operations of
the AEON NEXT grocery business using the Ocado Smart Platform
("OSP"). The new facility, to go live in 2027, was announced as
AEON celebrated the first anniversary of the official launch of
AEON NEXT's online grocery delivery brand.
The first CFC in Honda-cho,
Midori-ku, Chiba-city opened in July 2023, serving customers in the
Kanto region. This will be followed by a second CFC based in
Hachioji, due to go live in 2026. The service offers the widest
range of products available in the Japanese grocery market, with
Ocado's technology enabling world-leading levels of freshness and
convenience.
In addition to the network expansion,
AEON will also upgrade its live operations with the latest Ocado
technologies including On-Grid Robotic Pick ("OGRP"). This will
bring increasing levels of labour productivity to AEON's
operations, enabling them to further reduce the cost to serve and
address long term challenges of labour availability in
Japan.
Further CFCs are planned to expand
AEON's existing ecosystem.
Tim Steiner, CEO of Ocado Group,
said:
"Today is an exciting moment for AEON and
Ocado's relationship as we deepen our already strong
partnership."
"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."
Contacts:
● Tim Steiner,
Chief Executive Officer on +44 1707 228 000
● Stephen Daintith, Chief Financial Officer on +44 1707 228
000
● Nick Coulter, Head of Investor Relations on +44 1707 228
000
● Jamie Kerr, Head of Communications on +44 1707 228
000
● Lucy Legh / Matt Denham / Jack Gault, Headland Consultancy
- ocadogroup@headlandconsultancy.com
on +44 (0) 20 3805
4822
Notes to Editors
About Ocado Group
Ocado Group is a UK based technology
company trading on the London Stock Exchange
(Ticker OCDO). It provides end-to-end
online grocery fulfilment solutions to thirteen of the
world's largest grocery retailers and
holds a 50% share of Ocado Retail Ltd in the UK in a Joint Venture
with Marks & Spencer. Ocado has spent two decades innovating
for grocery online, investing in a wide technology estate that
includes robotics, AI & machine learning, simulation,
forecasting, and edge intelligence.
About AEON NEXT
AEON NEXT Co. Ltd. is a 100%
AEON-owned subsidiary, founded in 2019 with the goal to launch and
run the next-generation online grocery business on the Japanese
market. AEON NEXT offers a compelling range of products, supported
by a state-of-the-art, end-to-end platform that allows for shopping
and delivery anytime, anywhere, in a seamless and delightful
way!
Person responsible for arranging the
release of this announcement:
Neill Abrams
Group General Counsel and Company Secretary
Ocado Group plc
Buildings One & Two, Trident
Place, Mosquito Way,
Hatfield, Hertfordshire AL10
9UL
email: company.secretary@ocado.com
Ocado Group plc LEI:
213800LO8F61YB8MBC74
