Ocado has opened its first customer fulfilment centre in Asia as the British grocery technology firm amid rumours of a takeover by Amazon and struggling share price.
Ocado has deployed the customer fulfilment centre in Chiba-city, Japan, for grocery business Green Beans brand, which is owned by AEON NEXT.
“Grocery spend in Asia is set to outstrip every other region of the globe over the next decade, and online remains the fastest growing channel in grocery across APAC,” said Tim Steiner, Ocado Group’s CEO.
US tech giant Amazon is reportedly undergoing talks with the grocery technology maker for a takeover. Amazon and Ocado have declined to comment on the takeover rumours.
Despite being one of the UK’s most prominent players in the industry, Ocado’s share prices have fallen massively since its peak in 2020, when the pandemic supercharged the performance of home delivery firms.
AEON NEXT and Ocado are also working on a site in Hachioji, Tokyo, with more in the pipeline.
“As the market develops, the ecommerce networks Ocado is building with partners in Asia will generate a step-change in the quality of service that customers can expect online,” added Steiner.
Ocado has developed various technologies for the ecommerce market, including robots that can collect online food orders in warehouses by travelling across a grid system to required items.
Its deliveries are plotted out with AI and all of its spaces have digital twins.
In 2022, the London Stock Exchange-listed company collected £578m for its technology branch, which licenses its automated warehouse technology to other brands.