The American supermarket group Kroger is closing three distribution centers powered by Ocado technology in January. It is a new sign that the era of separate online order warehouses may be over.
Store network as an asset
Instead of delivering online orders itself from large, centralized fulfillment centers, Kroger wants to test “capital-light” fulfillment from stores in high-volume areas. Instacart is currently the primary delivery partner for the American supermarket chain, and the retailer is also increasingly collaborating with DoorDash.
