Sobeys, Ocado bring online grocery services to Canadians
Sobeys a food retailer based in Stellarton, Canada has announced plans to partner with the Ocado Group, a Hatfield, United Kingdom-based online supermarket. Together both companies are aiming towards building an online grocery platform that will serve Canadians. The joint venture will include online ordering, automated fulfillment and home delivery services.
"Sobeys intends to play to win in Canadian online grocery shopping. We are very excited to bring this best-in-the-world grocery e-commerce experience to Canadian customers," Michael Medline, president and CEO of Sobeys said. "This unique and innovative Sobeys and Ocado experience will offer consumers the biggest selection, freshest products and most reliable delivery available anywhere on the planet. Our end-to-end e-commerce solution will allow Sobeys to build an online offer in a manner that is profitable and creates exceptional value for our customers, investors and supplier partners."
The business will be built on the Ocado Smart Platform and will include:
Both companies also are developing their first Customer Fulfillment Centre in the greater Toronto area, which is expected to take approximately two years.
"We are delighted to be working with one of the leaders in North American grocery retailing. Sobeys is a highly successful and much admired Canadian business and we are proud that they have chosen Ocado Solutions to partner with to build their online grocery business," CEO of Ocado Group, Tim Steiner said.
"Sobeys intends to play to win in Canadian online grocery shopping. We are very excited to bring this best-in-the-world grocery e-commerce experience to Canadian customers," Michael Medline, president and CEO of Sobeys said. "This unique and innovative Sobeys and Ocado experience will offer consumers the biggest selection, freshest products and most reliable delivery available anywhere on the planet. Our end-to-end e-commerce solution will allow Sobeys to build an online offer in a manner that is profitable and creates exceptional value for our customers, investors and supplier partners."
The business will be built on the Ocado Smart Platform and will include:
- best-in-class, front-end website functionality, supported by its proprietary 'webshop' and mobile grocery ordering applications;
- construction of Ocado's latest generation, state-of-the-art automated warehouse designed specifically for grocery e-commerce; and
- last-mile routing management technology to optimize delivery truck efficiency, customer service excellence and punctuality.
Both companies also are developing their first Customer Fulfillment Centre in the greater Toronto area, which is expected to take approximately two years.
"We are delighted to be working with one of the leaders in North American grocery retailing. Sobeys is a highly successful and much admired Canadian business and we are proud that they have chosen Ocado Solutions to partner with to build their online grocery business," CEO of Ocado Group, Tim Steiner said.