UPDATE: Lidl have exclusively confirmed to Retail Gazette that the company is not the retailer currently working with Ocado on this project.
Industry sleuths have tipped Lidl as the potential customer behind Ocado’s latest robotic warehouse deal, which is due to go live during its 2028 financial year.
Ocado revealed earlier this week that it had signed an agreement to build a large customer fulfilment centre for a “fast-growing European national retailer”, but declined to identify the company.
The facility will use Ocado’s latest Re technology, including its lightweight 600 Series robots, On-Grid Robotic Pick system and fully automated freezer.
Lidl’s rapid growth fuels speculation
Lidl has continued to expand rapidly in Britain and overtook Morrisons to become the country’s fifth-largest supermarket earlier this year.
The discounter was also the fastest-growing bricks-and-mortar grocer in the latest market data, with sales climbing 8.6 per cent year on year during the four weeks to 12 July.
Lidl GB operates more than 1,000 shops and 13 distribution centres across England, Scotland and Wales, and has one of the grocery sector’s most ambitious store-opening programmes.
An automated ecommerce operation could allow it to broaden its appeal among shoppers looking to complete their entire weekly shop with the discounter, while challenging Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons more directly online.
It would also represent a major strategic change for Lidl, whose low-cost operating model has traditionally centred on a limited assortment and a predominantly store-based proposition.
Online volumes raise questions over Lidl theory
However, one detail in Ocado’s announcement makes Lidl GB a less straightforward fit.
Ocado said its unnamed partner already had online order volumes that would be transferred quickly into the new warehouse. The facility is expected to begin operating at just over half its total design capacity, suggesting that the customer has a sizeable established ecommerce business.
Lidl GB does not currently offer a full online grocery delivery service. Its digital initiatives have instead included a Click, Reserve & Collect trial for selected Middle of Lidl products and the expansion of its Lidl & Go scan-as-you-shop service.
The reference to existing ecommerce volumes could therefore point to another European supermarket with an established UK online operation, unless Lidl intends to transfer orders from a different market or launch a service before the CFC opens.
Ocado has not named the retailer, while Lidl has not publicly announced a partnership with the automation specialist.
The agreement nevertheless represents an important boost for Ocado’s technology division following setbacks involving partners Kroger and Sobeys in North America.
Ocado chief executive Tim Steiner said the deal, alongside its recently announced partnership with Asda, demonstrated growing demand for the group’s different fulfilment technologies.
Currently, any mention of Lidl in relation to the new Ocado project is purely speculation. Lidl has been contacted for comment.
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