Canadian conglomerate Empire has revealed plans to introduce its Voilà online grocery home delivery service in British Columbia, Canada, by opening an e-commerce customer fulfilment centre (CFC).
Located in the Greater Vancouver Area, the CFC will be Empire’s fourth facility in British Columbia.
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The company is due to launch the delivery service in the province in 2025.
Third-party industrial developer Beedie will develop the facility according to Empire’s specifications, leasing it to the company after completion.
The CFC will feature technologies from Ocado designed to increase efficiency and lower environmental and carbon footprints.
Ocado claims that its new generation robots are five times lighter and consume less energy and power than their predecessors.
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By GlobalDataThe company also recently announced a range of innovations and changes to the technology powering its Ocado Smart Platform (OSP), which will be made available to Empire.
Empire e-commerce senior vice-president Sarah Joyce said: “Ocado’s central fulfilment and home delivery model is proving to be the most efficient on the market while delivering the best customer experience.
“Ocado’s recent innovations are making it even more efficient and sustainable – both for our business and the planet. Their commitment to ongoing innovation is one of the reasons we decided to partner with them.
“With CFCs in Ontario, Quebec, Alberta and British Columbia, we will reach 755 of Canadian households and approximately 90% of grocery e-commerce spend.
“We strongly believe that central fulfilment is the most profitable solution at scale, and that Voilà will be the top e-commerce grocery retailer in Canada.”
Last April, Empire expanded its Voilà grocery home delivery into Western Canada by launching Voilà by Safeway Curbside Pickup in Alberta.
The company began building a CFC to support its operations in Rocky View County, which is due to open next year.
Located just outside the Calgary city limits, the facility is expected to create around 1,500 jobs in the province.
