The chief executive of online grocery firm Ocado said he wants a global network with dozens of distribution centres by the end of the next decade.
Tim Steiner, whose firm has two main distribution hubs - or fulfilment centres, was responding to a brokers report from Goldman Sachs that it would have 24 by 2030.
Steiner told The Daily Telegraph he envisaged having ‘a lot more than that' buoyed by partnerships with retailers across the globe similar to the one he signed with Morrisons in May.
Earlier this week, speaking at the sidelines of the World Retail Congress in Paris, Steiner told news service Reuters that he had been bombarded with calls from overseas retailers from Europe, the Americas and Australasia.
He told them: 'We do expect to do more Morrison-esque transactions to monetize our technology. We need to develop software which you can plug and play. We could do one, then three, then nine,' Steiner said, referring to how Amazon had quickly signed up an army of suppliers to its marketplace once it had mastered the technology.
He said he plans to increase the number of technology-focused staff from 350 now to 450 in a year's time.
Amazon is also understood to be looking at developing a food delivery offer that could soon be heading for Europe.
Meanwhile, the Goldman Sachs report said Ocado will be able to continue its expansion from cashflow and without raising more debt or finance. It said that by 2030 the network of distribution centres could generate £15 billion in revenue. Goldmans also said it expected Ocado to open another distribution centre as soon as next year.
Ocado also operates a number of smaller distribution hubs or 'spokes' from the central warehouse in Hatfield. The second warehouse in Dordon, Warwickshire, which it has leased to Morrisons, will begin delivering by January.
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