Ocado enters South Korea through partnership with Lotte Shopping

British online grocery retailer Ocado has announced its entry into South Korea.

British online grocery retailer Ocado has announced its entry into South Korea through a partnership with local conglomerate Lotte Shopping. After the deal closes, the partners will begin developing a network of robotic customer service centers in the local market.

By 2028, they plan to build six customer service centers in major cities across the country. As the network develops, the centers will cover geographic regions and serve a wide range of online sales, Reuters writes. The first center is expected to open in 2025.

Lotte Shopping is the largest retail division of the Lotte Group, with revenues estimated at more than $60 billion. The division operates shopping centers, department stores, hypermarkets, supermarkets and e-commerce services. More than 1,000 stores nationwide generate more than $11 billion in revenue.

Through its partnership with the British online retailer, Lotte will incorporate new technologies into its business to make more efficient use of space in densely built-up areas.

Ocado Group CEO Tim Steiner said: “This partnership brings the Ocado Smart Platform, the most advanced technology for serving online grocery stores, to one of the most advanced e-commerce markets in the world.”