Alcampo and Ocado: Grocery Ecommerce Runs on Partnership

For years, grocery retailers have viewed ecommerce as a technology challenge. Build a better website. Invest in automation. Improve last-mile delivery.

But according to Carlos Pedreira Freire, CEO of Alcampo, and Gregor Ulitzka, President, Europe at Ocado Group, technology is only one part of the equation. Speaking at Shoptalk Europe, moderated by Ben Miller, VP of Original Content & Strategy at Shoptalk, the two executives explained how their partnership has evolved far beyond an ecommerce platform deployment into a fully integrated strategy focused on customer experience, operational excellence and long-term business transformation.

The results are already becoming visible. Alcampo's online business in Madrid grew by 60% over the past year while customer satisfaction reached record levels, proving that execution, rather than technology alone, is becoming the defining competitive advantage in grocery retail.

Changing Consumer Habits Are Reshaping Grocery Retail

Alcampo's transformation has been driven by fundamental changes in Spanish consumer behaviour. The company operates around 500 stores across Spain, employs approximately 23,000 people, and generates around five billion euros in annual revenue. Around 65% of the business runs through directly owned stores, with the remaining 35% through franchise operations.

Pedreira Freire explained that customers have become increasingly price conscious, creating smaller shopping baskets while visiting stores more frequently. Inflationary pressures have increased demand for promotions and value, while demographic shifts are also changing purchasing habits.

Spain's ageing population means a growing proportion of customers are now over the age of 65, while smaller households continue to drive demand for convenience and proximity shopping.

Those trends have forced Alcampo to rethink both its physical store network and its digital operations.

Over the past five years, the retailer has opened more than 200 new proximity stores while investing heavily in its logistics infrastructure, including two major distribution centres and a grocery warehouse south of Madrid of more than 100,000 square metres, which Pedreira Freire described as the largest grocery warehouse in Spain today.

Grocery Ecommerce Is Won Through Operations

While digital storefronts often attract the most attention, Ulitzka argued that successful online grocery is ultimately built on operational discipline.

Unlike many retail sectors, grocery leaves very little margin for error. Late deliveries, missing products or poor-quality fresh food can permanently damage customer trust after a single order. Ulitzka put it plainly: a retailer can offer a fantastic range and sharp prices, but if orders arrive late, items are missing, or fresh products fall short, the customer who has been let down is unlikely to return.

That operational mindset has shaped how Ocado Group approaches partnerships across Europe. Rather than promoting a single fulfilment model, the company works with retailers to determine the most appropriate combination of automated Customer Fulfilment Centres, store-based picking and last-mile solutions based on local demand and market density.

For Ulitzka, grocery ecommerce is not about choosing one fulfilment model over another. It is about building the right network for each market. At the Madrid Customer Fulfilment Centre, powered by Ocado Group''s technology, more than 50% of order volumes are already fulfilled through robotic picking, removing human touch from the majority of the process and creating the supply chain consistency that freshness and accuracy depend on.

Customer Trust Is Fuelling Alcampo's Online Growth

The investments in operations are translating directly into measurable customer outcomes.

According to Pedreira Freire, Alcampo''s ecommerce business in Madrid grew by 60% last year, supported by significant improvements in customer satisfaction.

The retailer''s Net Promoter Score increased by 71%, while fewer than 2% of online orders arrived outside their promised delivery windows. Product availability exceeded 98%, and maintaining the freshness of grocery products has become one of the company''s strongest differentiators.

For Pedreira Freire, those metrics are more important than sales growth alone because they reflect something harder to build: customer confidence. Every accurate order, every on-time delivery and every fresh product strengthens the relationship between retailer and shopper, creating loyalty that extends beyond pricing and promotions.

From Technology Provider to Strategic Partner

Perhaps the biggest transformation has taken place behind the scenes.

When the relationship between Alcampo and Ocado Group first began, both organisations viewed the project primarily as a technology implementation. Ocado Group would provide the ecommerce platform, fulfilment technology and automation capabilities, while Alcampo would focus on serving customers.

Over time, that relationship evolved into something much broader. Today, the two companies jointly develop customer propositions, optimise supply chain operations and shape long-term ecommerce strategy together.

According to Ulitzka, the partnership has become so closely integrated that employees from both businesses work alongside one another every day, making it difficult to distinguish where one organisation ends and the other begins.

Collaboration Has Become the Competitive Advantage

Reflecting on the journey, Pedreira Freire identified three principles that have shaped the partnership''s success.

The first was establishing a shared ambition to become the leaders of online grocery in Spain. The second was recognising that both organisations brought complementary strengths rather than competing priorities. The third was building a culture where challenges are solved collectively rather than through traditional supplier relationships.

Ulitzka was candid about how far the relationship has travelled. "Five years ago, when our partnership started, I think neither Carlos nor I were envisioning the partnership today," he said. "We thought we were delivering an ecommerce platform and they were using it."

Instead of operating as customer and vendor, Alcampo and Ocado Group increasingly function as one team working toward common objectives, developing customer strategy together, optimising the supply chain jointly, and working out of the same offices. That level of collaboration, both executives agreed, has been essential in delivering the operational consistency required for grocery ecommerce to succeed.

The Future of Grocery Ecommerce Will Be Defined by Execution

The discussion highlighted a broader shift taking place across the grocery industry.

Technology is becoming increasingly available to every retailer. Automation continues to improve, AI is accelerating fulfilment capabilities, and ecommerce platforms are more sophisticated than ever. What is becoming harder to replicate is operational excellence.

Retailers that consistently deliver complete orders, fresh products and reliable service are creating customer relationships that extend far beyond convenience.

For Alcampo and Ocado Group, the future of grocery ecommerce will not be won through technology alone. It will be won through partnerships that combine innovation with flawless execution, turning operational excellence into a lasting competitive advantage.

As online grocery continues to mature across Europe, that may prove to be the industry''s most valuable differentiator.