Weekly News Wrap: UK-based Ocado enters South Korea in Lotte deal; Reliance Retail in talks to enter salon business

And China-based Shein expands operations in the United States.

From Reuters:

Ocado, the British online supermarket and technology group, has entered South Korea, one of the most mature e-commerce markets in the world, through a partnership deal with Lotte Shopping, the companies said.

Shares in Ocado soared 34% by 1241 GMT, paring 2022 losses to 62%, after Ocado and Lotte said they would develop a network of robotic warehouses, or Customer Fulfilment Centres (CFCs) as Ocado calls them, across South Korea to expand Lotte's online grocery business.

Lotte becomes Ocado's 12th partner across 10 countries.

"Lotte management recognises Ocado's latest innovation as ahead of anything else in the market and its end-to-end solution as unmatched, differentiating its solution from others," said analysts at RBC Europe, adding that the deal provides the market with renewed confidence in Ocado's technology attracting more partners.

From Reuters:

Reliance Retail is set to enter the salon business and is in talks to buy a 49% stake in Naturals Salon & Spa, the chief executive of the salon chain said in a social media post.

The existing promoters of Naturals Salon-parent, Groom India Salons & Spa, could continue running operations and Reliance's funds would help expand its network of 700 salons in 20 states by four- to five-fold, the Economic Times had earlier reported, citing executives.

"Reliance Retail is yet to acquire the 49% of Naturals' stake," Naturals CEO CK Kumaravel said in a LinkedIn post, sharing the ET report.

However, neither Kumaravel nor the ET report mentioned a deal value. Naturals and Reliance did not respond to requests for comment from Reuters.

From Bloomberg:

Fast-fashion juggernaut Shein has managed to hook hordes of Gen Z shoppers in the US despite a key business disadvantage: It has typically offered e-commerce delivery windows of 10 to 15 days that are easily bested by its competitors.

Now, the company is pushing to get its ultra-low-priced merchandise on doorsteps more quickly by establishing distribution centres in the Midwest and California — a significant shift from its practice of shipping individual orders directly to US consumers from overseas.

The logistics investment dials up the pressure Shein has already placed on more established rivals such as H&M and Forever 21, while also threatening the newcomer’s profit margins and introducing fresh risks into its business model.

“The time that it takes to get the products to the consumer in the fast-fashion world, where a young consumer — particularly a young female consumer — probably doesn't want to think two weekends ahead is really important,” said Adam Cochrane, retail and luxury analyst at Deutsche Bank AG.