French brand Carrefour – part of Majid Al Futtaim in the MENA region – will use US-based technology company Takeoff’s best-in-class e-grocery automation solutions to revolutionise its online orders in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
The partnership with Takeoff will see several micro-fulfilment centres (MFCs) built by 2021. Located at select Carrefour stores, these automated, small warehouses will process the rband’s online orders to replace the currently used manual picking method. Customers will be able to place orders through Carrefour online with Takeoff’s automated technology ensuring that robots within the MFCs fulfil the order in less than five minutes for pick-up or delivery.
Designed with the customer in mind, the technology enables increased availability of order process and delivery slot capacity – with over 2,000 orders per day that can be placed from a space of 1,500 sqm. In addition, as MFCs will be based within Carrefour stores located in communities where customers live and shop, it will allow for fewer out of stock items in orders and significantly fresher products. The technology will also increase picking efficiency equal to 1,800 items/hour, enabling increased order fulfilment for customers, and reduced costs per order.
“We are pleased to announce this partnership with Takeoff which will bring another state-of-the-art technology in the retail sector to the region. Takeoff has a strong existing client list and brings a reliable tech solution that can significantly improve our customers’ experience – from faster order processing to an increase in capacity to deliver more online orders,” said Hani Weiss, CEO of Majid Al Futtaim – Retail.
Once in place, Carrefour is set to become the first grocery retailer to use this technology in the Middle East.
“We are facing a massive shift in the e-grocery industry, and the scales have already begun tipping. We are thrilled to be at the forefront with Majid Al Futtaim,” added Max Pedro, co-founder & president, Takeoff.