Ocado enters South Korea through deal with Lotte Shopping
Online grocer Ocado has entered the South Korean market through the signing of a deal with Lotte Shopping.
The move will see Ocado develop Lotte’s online business in the country with the Ocado Smart Platform.
Under the agreement, Ocado and Lotte will create a network of customer fulfilment centres while Ocado will roll out its in-store fulfilment solution across Lotte’s store estate.
With a total annual revenue of £45 billion, Lotte Group is one of the largest business conglomerates in South Korea with interests spanning retail, food, hotels and chemicals.
Lotte Shopping operates a range of department stores, hypermarkets, supermarkets and ecommerce sites in the country. It currently has more than 1,000 stores nationwide and an annual revenue of £9.5 billion.
Tim Steiner, chief executive of Ocado Group, said: “This partnership brings the Ocado Smart Platform, the most advanced technology for serving online grocery, to one of the most mature ecommerce markets in the world. I’m delighted to welcome Lotte to the innovative group of retailers developing their online operations with Ocado. With this new partnership, our unique, proprietary technology will now power the online businesses of twelve major retailers across ten countries worldwide.”
The partnership will give Ocado another important foothold in Asia Pacific as it targets further growth in the region.
Luke Jensen, chief executive of Ocado Solutions, added: “South Korea is among the most developed and dynamic markets for grocery ecommerce in the world. Lotte is a powerhouse grocery player in the market, with deep connections to its customers and the ambition to dominate the ecommerce channel in grocery. We can’t wait to introduce a game-changing proposition to Korean shoppers with Lotte.”
