Kroger Goes Big On Robotics But May Trail Amazon And Walmart On Speed

Ocado's fulfilment center in Andover has hundreds of robots working above a grid of groceries. In the race to stay alive in grocery retailing, Whole Foods sold to Amazon, Walmart offered grocery delivery and now Kroger has announced it will build three huge, automated warehouses filled with swarming robots to process online orders. The only problem: By the time Kroger gets those warehouses, which could rise to 20 in the coming years, it may still struggle to match Amazon in doing speedy delivery. The reason comes down to geography and the nitty-gritty details of Kroger's logistical overhaul. Kroger has picked warehouse builder Ocado, well known in the U.K. for being one of the first companies in the world to sell fresh food online when it first launched in 2000.