LONDON (Reuters) -British online supermarket and technology firm Ocado has expanded its partnership with Spanish supermarket group Bon Preu with plans to build a robotic warehouse near Barcelona, it
Ocado Partners with Bon Preu to Establish Robotic Warehouse in Spain
LONDON (Reuters) -British online supermarket and technology firm Ocado has expanded its partnership with Spanish supermarket group Bon Preu with plans to build a robotic warehouse near Barcelona, it said on Wednesday.
Ocado runs an online supermarket in Britain through a joint venture with Marks & Spencer, though its value is driven by the sale of its cutting-edge warehouse technology to retailers around the world.
Its shares are down 30% over the last year reflecting market anxiety at the pace of new site openings for its existing grocery retail partners and a lack of further technology deals.
Bon Preu was Ocado's first international partner, signing a deal in 2017 which enabled it to use Ocado's technology to fulfil online grocery orders from its stores.
The new automated warehouse, or Customer Fulfilment Centre as Ocado calls them, at Parets del Vallès in Catalonia, will enable Bon Preu to offer a broader range of products with greater freshness and higher availability.
"Our partnership with Bon Preu is an amazing example of a retailer using the full strategic toolkit that Ocado offers," Gregor Ulitzka, Europe President for Ocado Solutions, said.
(Reporting by James Davey in London and Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Sarah Young)
