Ocado Group plc and AEON have announced the continued expansion of their partnership, with plans to construct a third Customer Fulfilment Centre in Kuki-Miyashiro, the Saitama prefecture of Japan. Ocado entered an exclusive partnership with AEON in 2019 to develop the online operations of the AEON NEXT grocery business using the Ocado Smart Platform ("OSP"). The new facility, to go live in 2027, was announced as AEON celebrated the first anniversary of the official launch of AEON NEXT's online grocery delivery brand.

The first CFC in Honda-cho, Midori-ku, Chiba-city opened in July 2023, serving customers in the Kanto region. This will be followed by a second CFC based in Hachioji, due to go live in 2026. The service offers the widest range of products available in the Japanese grocery market, with Ocado's technology enabling levels of freshness and convenience.

In addition to the network expansion, AEON will also upgrade its live operations with the latest Ocado technologies including On-Grid Robotic Pick ("OGRP"). This will bring increasing levels of labour productivity to AEON's operations, enabling them to further reduce the cost to serve and address long term challenges of labour availability in Japan. Further CFCs are planned to expand AEON's existing ecosystem.