CINCINNATI, Nov. 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Kroger
Family of Companies (NYSE: KR), America's largest grocery retailer,
and Ocado (LSE: OCDO), a world leader in technology for grocery
e-commerce, today announced the continued expansion of their
partnership with plans to construct an additional Customer
Fulfillment Center (CFC) in the South region, while also
collaborating with Ocado on in-store fulfilment (ISF) capabilities
with a planned rollout across Kroger stores, beginning in 2021.
"Kroger continues to accelerate the expansion of our national
network to redefine the customer experience," said Gabriel Arreaga, Kroger's chief supply chain
officer." Our partnership with Ocado is and will continue to be
rooted in our ability to deliver a value-added customer-centric
solution that brings fresh food to customers through our seamless
ecosystem."
The new facility will measure 200,000 square feet. The exact
location and construction dates of the new facility will be
announced soon.
Kroger has partnered with Ocado to help accelerate its ability
to provide customers with anything, anytime, anywhere through its
seamless ecosystem. The CFC model – incorporating state-of-the-art
automation and AI – will be used to expand Kroger products to a
larger footprint.
"In the long term, we know that winning online in grocery means
having the best customer service, underpinned by the best
operational economics," said Luke
Jensen, CEO of Ocado Solutions. "In leveraging the wide
range of Ocado fulfillment technologies, Kroger is accessing the
best customer offering for online grocery in the world, proven in
the UK, one of most developed and competitive markets for grocery
online."
The newly named location will complement Kroger's previously
announced CFC sites in Monroe, OH,
Groveland, FL, Frederick, MD, Atlanta, GA, Dallas,
TX, Pleasant Prairie, WI,
Romulus, MI, Pacific Northwest and
West regions. Kroger plans to open the country's first two CFC
sites in Monroe, OH, a suburb of
Cincinnati and Groveland, FL in early 2021.
As part of its accelerated growth plan, Kroger is also investing
and innovating to optimize in-store fulfilment technology and
processes. Through their expanding partnership, Kroger is also
collaborating with Ocado to leverage their in-store fulfilment
(ISF) capabilities with the best of Kroger's technology and digital
solutions to support the rapid growth of pickup demand across
Kroger stores nationwide. Ocado's in-store fulfilment solution
includes proprietary software that supports associates' efforts to
assemble orders and makes it easier and more efficient for them to
find products when fulfilling customer pickup orders.
"Kroger continues to accelerate the development and rollout of
customer-centric technology and digital capabilities to build a
seamless ecosystem that combines the best of the physical store
experience with the digital experience,"
said Yael Cosset, Kroger's chief technology and digital
officer. "Ocado's in-store fulfillment capabilities, leveraging AI,
will further contribute to continuous improvement of the customer
pickup experience."
About The Kroger Co.
At The Kroger Co.
(NYSE: KR), we are Fresh for Everyone™ and dedicated to our
Purpose: To Feed the Human Spirit®. We are, across our family
of companies, nearly half a million associates who serve over 11
million customers daily through a seamless shopping experience
under a variety of banner names. We are committed to creating
#ZeroHungerZeroWaste communities by 2025. To learn more about us,
visit our newsroom and investor relations site.
About Ocado Group
Ocado Group is a UK based technology
company admitted to trading on the London Stock Exchange (Ticker
OCDO). It provides end-to-end online grocery fulfilment solutions
to some of the world's largest grocery retailers and holds a 50% 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.
View original
content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/kroger-and-ocado-announce-new-region-for-high-tech-customer-fulfillment-center-and-expand-collaboration-to-include-in-store-fulfillment-capabilities-301179741.html
SOURCE The Kroger Co.