Ocado extends partnership with French retailer Groupe Casino
The tie-up will allow partners of Ocado’s smart app around the world to launch their own marketplaces.
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Your support makes all the difference.Online supermarket and technology group Ocado has extended its partnership with French retailer Groupe Casino.
The move includes the launch of a joint venture to provide logistics services to customer fulfilment centres (CFCs) powered by Ocado across France, which will be available to all grocery retailers in the country.
In February, the two companies signed a preliminary agreement to support the development and management of French CFCs – which are third-party logistics hubs where providers sort customer orders for online retailers.
The partnership also meant that Ocado and Groupe Casino would provide logistics services, including project management, as well as hiring and operations management services for future CFCs.
The extension of the partnership will allow Ocado to integrate French online retailer Cdiscount’s Octopia marketplace platform into its own smart platform – an automated fulfilment and software solution, which serves clients including supermarket Morrisons.
Octopia helps e-commerce businesses become a marketplace through application programme interfaces – which enable companies to open up their applications’ data and functionality to external third-party developers, business partners and internal employees.
Partners of Ocado’s smart app around the world will also be able to launch their own marketplaces.
Groupe Casino is likewise set to benefit from the use of the app across its Monoprix stores.
Ocado Solutions chief executive Luke Jensen said the partnership is a “great milestone” for the company’s relationship with the French retailer.
I'm excited that Ocado Group's cutting-edge technologies are now available to all grocery retailers in France, with the new joint venture leveraging our combined expertise to provide key logistics services for future CFCs
He said: “This is a great milestone for our relationship with Groupe Casino as we extend the partnership in a number of exciting directions.
“I’m excited that Ocado Group’s cutting-edge technologies are now available to all grocery retailers in France, with the new joint venture leveraging our combined expertise to provide key logistics services for future CFCs.”
Ocado achieved another milestone in June, when its raised £575 million to invest in its technology arm.