Ocado partners with South Korea’s Lotte Shopping

Ocado Solutions has entered the South Korean market following a new partnership with Lotte Shopping, which will aim to develop Lotte’s online business with the Ocado Smart Platform.

Lotte Shopping is the largest retail affiliate of Lotte Group, a South Korean-based multinational conglomerate, with interests spanning retail, food, hotels and chemicals, and a total annual revenue of 75 trillion KRW (£45bn). 

The retail arm operates department stores, hypermarkets, supermarkets and e-commerce in South Korea, with more than 1,000 stores nationwide and an annual revenue of 15.6 trillion KRW (£9.5bn).

Under the new agreement, Ocado and Lotte will develop a network of Customer Fulfilment Centres (CFCs) across the market, using the Ocado Smart Platform. Ocado’s in-store fulfilment solution will also be rolled out across Lotte’s store estate.

The agreement plans for the development of a nationwide fulfilment network, with six CFCs planned by 2028. The CFCs will reportedly cover multiple geographies and cater to a wide range of online grocery missions. Ocado said it plans to implement ISF in 2024, with the first CFC due to go live in 2025.

Following the deal, Lotte will pay Ocado Solutions certain fees upfront and during the development phase, then ongoing fees linked to both sales achieved and installed capacity within the CFC and service criteria.

The partnership is exclusive in South Korea on the basis of Lotte ordering an agreed schedule of CFC capacity and in the longer term meeting mutually agreed market share targets. 

Kim Sang-hyun, CEO of Lotte Shopping, said: “This partnership with Ocado, one of the most innovative companies worldwide, will be a great opportunity for Lotte Shopping to provide our customers with a new online grocery shopping experience. Also I expect this will be the first step for us on the way not only to increasing our competitiveness and presence in the e-grocery market, but also to achieving the leading position in the overall grocery market in Korea.”

Tim Steiner, CEO of Ocado Group, added: “This partnership brings the Ocado Smart Platform, the most advanced technology for serving online grocery, to one of the most mature ecommerce markets in the world. I’m delighted to welcome Lotte to the innovative group of retailers developing their online operations with Ocado. With this new partnership, our unique, proprietary technology will now power the online businesses of twelve major retailers across ten countries worldwide.”

Luke Jensen, CEO of Ocado Solutions, said: “South Korea is among the most developed and dynamic markets for grocery ecommerce in the world. Lotte is a powerhouse grocery player in the market, with deep connections to its customers and the ambition to dominate the ecommerce channel in grocery. We can’t wait to introduce a game-changing proposition to Korean shoppers with Lotte. This partnership also gives Ocado another important foothold in Asia Pacific as we target further growth across the region.”