Major Grocer Launches Very Unique Concept Store

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Published January 23, 2018 at 4:03 am

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We live in the future–a future where you never have to walk into a brick and mortar grocery store to get your dairy-free French cheese and free-range, farm-raised tofu (actually we don’t live in that future just yet, but we might soon).

Kidding aside, an interesting grocery store–one that you never have to visit–could be coming to a neighbourhood or city near you.

Sobeys recently announced that it’s partnering with the UK-based Ocado Group to bring the “world’s leading online grocery ordering, automated fulfillment and home delivery solution to Canada.”

In layman’s terms, the companies are pairing up to offer customers a full online grocery shopping experience–so shoppers can order their groceries online and have them delivered to their door.

It looks like this kind of buying experience, popularized by e-commerce giant Amazon and adopted by Walmart, is here to stay. 

But while you won’t have to go the store to grab your groceries, the concept has spurred the creation of a physical building. Sobeys and Ocado will develop what they’re calling their first customer fulfillment centre (CFC) in the GTA.

Sobey’s says the build is expected to take approximately two years.

Other CFCs could hit more urban areas in the future. 

“Sobeys intends to play to win in Canadian online grocery shopping. We are very excited to bring this best-in-the-world grocery e-commerce experience to Canadian customers,” said Michael Medline, president & CEO of Sobeys Inc. 

“This unique and innovative Sobeys and Ocado experience will offer consumers the biggest selection, freshest products and most reliable delivery available anywhere on the planet. Our end-to-end e-commerce solution will allow Sobeys to build an online offer in a manner that is profitable and creates exceptional value for our customers, investors and supplier partners.”

The location of the CFC has yet to be announced. 

We’ll keep you updated as more details emerge. 

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