伦敦——周三，英国零售科技公司 Ocado 推出了一套新产品，旨在帮助大型杂货连锁店与亚马逊和一波新的快速杂货配送初创企业竞争。
虽然 Ocado 以其在线超市而闻名，但该公司的重中之重是机器人和自动化工具，它部署在仓库中以挑选和包装物品并准备交付。
Ocado 将其技术出售给顶级零售商，包括 Kroger、英国的 Morrisons 和法国的 Casino。
该公司周三宣布了两款新机器人作为其技术展示的一部分。第一个是其 600 系列机器人，Ocado 称其比其前身更轻、更节能，其一半以上的部件都是 3D 打印的。
第二个是一组先进的机械臂，可以直接从公司仓库的网格中挑选物品。 Ocado 表示，它开发了人工智能技术，可以将手臂的精确度提高到更接近人类采摘者的精确度。
与此同时，Ocado 还吹捧它所谓的“虚拟配送中心”——本质上是软件智能和通过一个系统连接的小型微型履行中心的组合。 Ocado 表示，该产品将最大限度地提高每个仓库的物品容量，同时缩短交货时间。
周三，Ocado 的股价上涨了 5% 以上。该股在过去一年中大幅下跌，下跌 46%，随着经济从 Covid-19 大流行中复苏，以及各国央行开始谈论收紧货币政策，投资者对高增长股票感到担忧。
快速交货竞赛
消息传出之际，零售商不仅面临来自亚马逊的竞争，而且还面临着一系列在几分钟内提供杂货配送服务的新贵。 Getir 和 Gorillas 等公司最近在欧洲和美国部分地区兴起，得到了风险资本家大量资金的支持。
这些公司依赖于所谓的暗店，即旨在运送在线订单而不是在店内为顾客提供服务的小型仓库。
Ocado 的首席执行官蒂姆·施泰纳 (Tim Steiner) 表示，他认为这些快速杂货店参与者不会对大型零售商构成有意义的威胁。
“所有球员之间几乎没有区别，”施泰纳周三在与记者的电话中说。 “他们都非常相似。”
一些初创企业最近被大公司收购，Getir 收购了英国竞争对手 Weezy，Gorillas 收购了法国公司 Frichti。 Ocado 的负责人表示，鉴于该行业变得如此拥挤，他对看到该行业的整合“并不感到惊讶”。
至于公司计划如何为其所有新技术产品的建设提供资金，施泰纳表示，成本不应该成为问题，因为新机器人将比现有模型更具资本效率。但他补充说，该公司的资产负债表上有足够的现金——以及获得银行融资的渠道——最终可以大规模部署它们。
Ocado 计划在 2023 年底之前向其零售合作伙伴推出这些产品。该公司表示，这些举措不太可能对 Ocado 的 2022 年全年业绩产生重大影响。
Ocado unveils lighter robots to help grocery giants like Kroger take on Amazon
LONDON — U.K. retail tech company Ocado on Wednesday unveiled a suite of new products aimed at helping large grocery chains take on Amazon and a wave of new rapid grocery delivery start-ups.
While Ocado is most well known for its online supermarket, a top focus for the company is robotics and automation tools that it deploys in warehouses to pick and pack items and prepare them for delivery.
Ocado sells its technology to top retailers including Kroger, Britain's Morrisons and France's Casino.
The company announced two new robots as part of its tech showcase Wednesday. The first is its 600 Series bot, which Ocado said is lighter and more energy-efficient than its predecessor, with over half of its parts 3D printed.
The second is a set of advanced robotic arms that pick items directly off the grid in the company's warehouses. Ocado says it's developed artificial intelligence technology to enhance the precision of the arms to something closer to that of human pickers.
Meanwhile, Ocado also touted what it calls a “virtual distribution center” — essentially a combination of software smarts and small micro-fulfillment centers connected through one system. Ocado said the offering would maximize capacity of items in each warehouse while also slashing delivery times.
Shares of Ocado rose more than 5% on Wednesday. The stock has declined sharply in the past year, slumping 46%, with investors fretting over high-growth stocks as economies emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic and central banks begin to talk of tightening monetary policy.
Rapid delivery race
The news comes as retailers face competition not only from Amazon, but a slew of upstarts offering grocery delivery in a matter of minutes. Firms such as Getir and Gorillas have emerged across Europe and parts of the U.S. recently, backed by a flood of cash from venture capitalists.
Such companies rely on so-called dark stores, tiny warehouses that are designed to ship online orders rather than serve customers in-store.
Tim Steiner, Ocado's CEO, said he doesn't think these rapid grocery players pose a meaningful threat to big retailers.
“There's very little differentiation between all the players out there,” Steiner said on a call with reporters Wednesday. “They're all remarkably similar.”
Some start-ups have been acquired by larger players of late, with Getir buying U.K. rival Weezy and Gorillas snapping up French firm Frichti. Ocado's chief said he's “not surprised” to see consolidation in the sector given how crowded it's become.
As for how the company plans to fund building all its new technology products, Steiner said cost shouldn't be an issue since the new robots will be more capital-efficient than its current models. But he added the firm has enough cash on its balance sheet — as well as access to bank financing — to eventually deploy them at scale.
Ocado plans to roll out the products to its retail partners by the end of 2023. The initiatives are unlikely to have a material impact on Ocado's full-year 2022 results, the company said.
