Ocado-Kroger Partnership
The Ocado-Kroger Partnership is a May 2018 agreement under which Kroger became the exclusive US partner of Britain's Ocado and planned up to 20 automated grocery fulfillment centers using Ocado's robotic technology.
What happened and why it matters
The Ocado-Kroger deal was the largest early bet on fully automated grocery fulfillment in the US, and its mixed results inform how retailers weigh big central sites against store picking. Announced on May 17, 2018, it gave Kroger exclusive US use of Ocado's grid-based robotic system, and Kroger bought a 5% stake in Ocado. The first customer fulfillment center, a 375,000-square-foot building in Monroe, Ohio, opened in April 2021. Kroger later scaled back the network. For operators, the case shows that dense automation needs steady, high order volume in each region to pay back its cost.
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Related events
Sources
- Kroger inks Ocado grocery delivery deal (CNBC, Reuters) cnbc.com
- Ocado welcomes new partner Kroger (Ocado Group) ocadogroup.com
- Kroger debuts first Ocado automated fulfillment center (Supermarket News) supermarketnews.com