Groupe Casino and online technology firm Ocado Group have said that they plan to develop a number of e-commerce logistics centres for retailers across France, in a major expansion of their partnership.
Ocado will also deploy its in-store fulfilment solution across the French company's Monoprix stores, the companies said.
Ocado also plans to integrate Octopia, the marketplace platform launched by Casino's CDiscount arm, into the Ocado Smart Platform, 'bringing new flexibility and functionality to its global partners,' Casino said in a statement.
Expansion Across France
Ocado CEO Tim Steiner said the extension of the partnership, which dates to back to 2017 and is operational in Ile-de-France, would support expansion into other French regions.
“This announcement marks a deepening of the relationship between Groupe Casino and Ocado Group, and it will further support the capital light expansion of our partnership into other French regions," he said. "For the first time, it will also open up the whole of the French grocery market to Ocado’s solutions.
“Additionally, by integrating the Octopia marketplace into our end-to-end smart platform, we are bringing more proven, market-leading flexibility to our partners' online ecosystems.”
No Initial Capital Cost
There was not expected to be any initial capital cost for either Ocado Group or Groupe Casino in creating the joint venture, while it is also not expected to have any impact on the current live operations of either business, the companies said.
"Casino Group is pleased to announce this new agreement with Ocado Group," added Jean-Charles Naouri, chief executive, Casino Group. "This partnership illustrates our ability to once again revolutionise the way of disrupting the online grocery market."
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