Ocado signs deal with Japanese supermarket Aeon
UK online grocer Ocado has signed an agreement with Aeon to enable the Japanese company to develop a new online grocery business in Japan using the Ocado Smart Platform.
Aeon is one of Asia’s largest retailers and operates over 21,000 stores.
The agreement includes plans for the development of a national fulfilment network to serve the whole of the Japanese market. The two companies expect the network to have a sales capacity of around 600 billion JPY by 2030 and one trillion JPY by 2035.
The initial customer fulfilment centres will serve Japan’s Kanto region with the first going live in 2023. These will be followed by the introduction of additional centres of differing sizes over the following two years.
The partnership will also include Aeon making use of Ocado’s proprietary store-pick software within parts of its store network and offering a click-and-collect service at selected sites.
Tim Steiner, chief executive of Ocado Group, said: “I am delighted to welcome another extraordinary retailer, and the first from Asia, to the unique international club of grocers powering their ecommerce operations with Ocado. This partnership marks a major milestone for the food retail landscape in Japan, and I am excited that Ocado will play a key role in bringing ever greater levels of convenience and choice to Aeon’s customers.”
