Ocado and AEON to construct third customer fulfilment centre in Japan
Ocado Group is expanding its partnership with the AEON supermarket in Japan with the construction of a third customer fulfilment centre in the country.
The group entered the exclusive partnership in 2019 when it announced that it would be developing the online operations of the AEON NEXT grocery business using the Ocado Smart Platform.
The new facility in Kuki-Miyashiro, the Saitama prefecture of Japan is set to go live in 2027. The announcement was made as AEON celebrated the first anniversary of the official launch of its AEON NEXT online grocery delivery brand.
Serving customers in the Kanto region, the first customer fulfilment centre was launched in July 2023 in Honda-cho, Midori-ku, Chiba-city. This will be followed by a second facility in Hachioji which is due to go live in 2026. Ocado said the service offers the widest range of products available in the Japanese grocery market.
AEON will also be upgrading its live operations with the latest Ocado technologies including On-Grid Robotic Pick to increase labour productivity.
Tim Steiner, chief executive 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.”
