Aeon Update

Ocado Group PLC

08 July 2024

 

8 July 2024

Ocado Group plc ("Ocado")

Ocado and AEON announce a third Customer Fulfilment Centre in Japan

Ocado Group plc ("Ocado") and AEON have announced the continued expansion of their partnership, with plans to construct a third Customer Fulfilment Centre ("CFC") in Kuki-Miyashiro, the Saitama prefecture of Japan.

Ocado entered an exclusive partnership with AEON in 2019 to develop the online operations of the AEON NEXT grocery business using the Ocado Smart Platform ("OSP"). The new facility, to go live in 2027, was announced as AEON celebrated the first anniversary of the official launch of AEON NEXT's online grocery delivery brand.

The first CFC in Honda-cho, Midori-ku, Chiba-city opened in July 2023, serving customers in the Kanto region. This will be followed by a second CFC based in Hachioji, due to go live in 2026. The service offers the widest range of products available in the Japanese grocery market, with Ocado's technology enabling world-leading levels of freshness and convenience.

In addition to the network expansion, AEON will also upgrade its live operations with the latest Ocado technologies including On-Grid Robotic Pick ("OGRP"). This will bring increasing levels of labour productivity to AEON's operations, enabling them to further reduce the cost to serve and address long term challenges of labour availability in Japan.

Further CFCs are planned to expand AEON's existing ecosystem.

Tim Steiner, CEO of Ocado Group, said:

"Today is an exciting moment for AEON and Ocado's relationship as we deepen our already strong partnership."

"As demonstrated by the state-of-the-art CFC live in Honda, Ocado is helping AEON NEXT to provide a seamless online grocery experience to customers across Tokyo. We can't wait to bring this service to even more customers in the years to come."

Contacts:

●    Tim Steiner, Chief Executive Officer on [phone]

●    Stephen Daintith, Chief Financial Officer on [phone]

●    Nick Coulter, Head of Investor Relations on [phone]

●    Jamie Kerr, Head of Communications on [phone]

●    Lucy Legh / Matt Denham / Jack Gault, Headland Consultancy - [e-mail] on [phone]

Notes to Editors

About Ocado Group

Ocado Group is a UK based technology company trading on the London Stock Exchange

(Ticker OCDO). It provides end-to-end online grocery fulfilment solutions to thirteen of the

world's largest grocery retailers and holds a 50% share 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.

About AEON NEXT

AEON NEXT Co. Ltd. is a 100% AEON-owned subsidiary, founded in 2019 with the goal to launch and run the next-generation online grocery business on the Japanese market. AEON NEXT offers a compelling range of products, supported by a state-of-the-art, end-to-end platform that allows for shopping and delivery anytime, anywhere, in a seamless and delightful way!

Person responsible for arranging the release of this announcement:

Neill Abrams
Group General Counsel and Company Secretary

Ocado Group plc

Buildings One & Two, Trident Place, Mosquito Way,

Hatfield, Hertfordshire AL10 9UL

email: [e-mail]

Ocado Group plc LEI: 213800LO8F61YB8MBC74

 

END