What it is
Ocado Group, a UK online grocer and the licensor of the automated fulfillment technology Kroger built on and partly unwound.
The full-year results of the UK group for the year to 30 November 2025. Its retail joint venture reported orders up 13.1%, an EBITDA margin of 3.8% excluding fees for a closed site, total customer fulfillment center costs including labor at 6% of sales, and units picked per hour up 8%.
The figures describe the cost of the automated fulfillment center as a share of sales. They do not include the last mile, and they are UK figures, so they do not transfer directly to US labor markets or delivery distances.
What the commerce leader should take from it
- Six pence in the pound to pick and pack, before a van moves, is the best published order of magnitude for the cost the fee in finding 3.2 is supposed to cover.
- A 3.8% EBITDA margin after fifteen years of automation is not obviously better than a store that picks. Kroger’s closures, the resource on its November 8-K, are the American reading of the same arithmetic.
- It is a technology licensor’s own account of its flagship customer, and it has an interest in the automation looking efficient.
Where to start
Use with finding 3.2 as the only published cost-to-pick figure. It gives finance a number to test the contribution margin per order against, with the last mile still to add.
Keep in mind
A UK business; the figures cover picking, not the last mile, and the publisher licenses the technology it is reporting on.
Where the report uses it
Read during the report design; not cited in a finding or a perspective yet.