Ocado has announced the launch of its first automated customer fulfilment centre (CFC) in South Korea as part of its partnership with retailer Lotte Shopping.

The new facility in Busan will serve around four million households across the city and the wider Yeongnam region. It marks the next phase of the partnership between the two companies after Lotte began using Ocado Smart Platform's in-store fulfilment software in 2025.

The site is the first to deploy several new Ocado Smart Platform technologies, including the company's fully automated freezer system, Auto-Freezer, which brings its proprietary “hive and bot” automation into temperatures as low as -25°C. Ocado said the technology is expected to deliver more than twice the productivity of a conventional manual freezer.

The fulfilment centre has also been designed to support South Korea's popular and controversial ‘dawn delivery’ model, enabling customers to receive grocery orders before 7am.

Ocado said the Busan facility is expected to be its most environmentally efficient CFC to date. Features include a fully electric vehicle fleet for daytime deliveries, more energy-efficient 3D-printed robots, multi-temperature totes to improve storage density, and extensive solar panel installations. Lotte estimates the solar panels will reduce annual carbon emissions by more than 1,000 tonnes.

The announcement comes as South Korea's online grocery sector continues to expand rapidly. According to Statistics Korea, the value of online grocery transactions increased from 17.17 trillion South Korean won (£8.7 billion) in 2019 to 52.3 trillion South Korean won (£26.5 billion) last year, representing a compound annual growth rate of 20.4 per cent. Online grocery now accounts for 28 per cent of the country's total grocery retail sales.

“This is another major milestone for Ocado as we launch one of our most advanced CFCs to date in one of the world's leading markets for grocery e-commerce,” said Nick De La Vega, chief revenue officer at Ocado Group. “Online is fast becoming the main grocery channel for many customers across South Korea, and we are excited to help Lotte deliver a step-change in the choice, service and experience it offers shoppers.”

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