Kroger to deploy Ocado robotic pickers at fulfillment centers

Kroger has partnered with U.K.-based online grocer and technology company Ocado Group to implement a range of robotic pickers and other automated technologies at its Customer Fulfillment Centers across the U.S. 

The grocer first began installing Ocado’s grocery warehouse technology at a customer fulfillment center in Monroe, Ohio, in 2021 and has expanded the relationship over the last three years.  

The news follows reports from March of 2023 when the grocer began slowing down the rollout of Customer Fulfillment Centers. 

This expansion of the partnership is likely the result of the rapid growth of Kroger’s online sales in 2023. In March, Kroger reported that its digital business grew 12% year over year in 2023 for a total of $12 billion in digital sales. 

“Customers value the ability to shop on their own terms with zero compromises,” Kroger Chairman and CEO Rodney McMullen said in the company’s Q4 earnings report. “And we are increasing the number of omnichannel households in our ecosystem. Customers who shop both in-store and online spend three to four times more compared to in-store-only shoppers.”

The rollout of Ocado’s Re:imagined technologies will take place at existing and future Customer Fulfillment Centers, the tech company said in a press release. That includes on-grid robotic pick and Automated Frameload technology.

Related:Kroger reportedly slows Ocado fulfillment center rollout

Ocado Group CEO Tim Steiner said in the press release that the warehouse automation tech will help relieve Kroger’s pressure “to manage higher volumes and greater complexity, as well as challenges in labor cost and availability.”

The on-grid robotic pick technology consists of a robotic arm that traverses a grid, selecting items that have been added to customer orders. The company said its retail partners can stock up to 50,000 products with the picking technology. 

“Advanced machine vision, deep reinforcement learning, and sensing capabilities enable OGRP to pick tens of thousands of products and pack them densely into bags with precision and accuracy,” according to Ocado. 

Once those orders are filled, the Automated Frameload tech handles “the most physically demanding job in the warehouse” of loading those baskets onto delivery frames for dispatch to customers.

“Computer vision examines the tote and the frame, forms an understanding of the dimensions and shape of the tote and enables alignment with the frame, making direction adjustments in real time to push the tote in,” the company said.