Grocery Automation Is Back on Retailers’ Radar with Ocado CEO Tim Steiner | WRC 2026

Grocery Automation Is Back on Retailers’ Radar with Ocado CEO Tim Steiner | WRC 2026

From Omni Talk Retail by Omni Talk Retail

April 29, 2026 · 18 min

About this episode

Tim Steiner, CEO of Ocado, discusses the future of grocery ecommerce and retail automation in an interview at the World Retail Congress 2026.

In this Omni Talk Retail interview, recorded live from World Retail Congress 2026 in Berlin, Chris Walton connects with Tim Steiner, CEO of Ocado, to discuss the rapidly evolving future of grocery ecommerce, fulfillment, and retail automation. Drawing from Ocado’s work with retailers across global markets, Tim explains why grocery ecommerce continues to operate so differently market by market, from the UK’s delivery-led ecosystem to France’s pickup dominance and the increasingly hybrid US landscape. The conversation explores how local consumer behavior, labor economics, and store infrastructure continue to shape fulfillment strategies worldwide. Tim also shares why automation and micro-fulfillment are beginning to regain momentum after several uneven years across the industry. He explains why many early automation deployments struggled to produce strong returns, why growing ecommerce volumes are creating new urgency around fulfillment capacity, and how Ocado believes robotics can help retailers improve both operational efficiency and customer experience over time. The interview also dives into: • Why the US grocery ecommerce market has evolved so rapidly • The operational…

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