Both brands will build a shared automated customer fulfillment warehouse in Toronto to serve customers. British online supermarket Ocado has partnered with Canadian retail chain Sobeys, in a move which…

Both brands will build a shared automated customer fulfillment warehouse in Toronto to serve customers.

British online supermarket Ocado has partnered with Canadian retail chain Sobeys, in a move which will see Sobeys utilise Ocado’s ‘smart delivery’ system.

Sobeys owns and operates 1,500 stores throughout Canada under various names, including Sobeys, Safeway, IGA, Foodland, FreshCo, Thrifty Foods, and Lawton’s Drug Stores.

Both brands will build a shared automated customer fulfillment warehouse in Toronto to serve customers, which will take approximately two years.

Luke Jensen, CEO of Ocado Solutions, stated that channel shift to online in North America is gaining pace as consumers increasingly seek the benefits of grocery shopping from the comforts of their own homes, and as retailers attempt to offer services to meet this growing customer trend.

In August 2017, Ocado launched an app for Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant, that will allow users to add products to an existing Ocado order or basket via voice command. The company states it is the first UK supermarket to launch an app for Alexa.