The rise of delivery robots
What are delivery robots?
Delivery robots provide an automated door-to-door service, bringing food or other items bought online to the end-customer. Composed of an area for the parcels they deliver, mounted on wheels, equipped with cameras and sensors, they are autonomous in their functioning.
They provide an alternative to traditional delivery services, leveraging automation and artificial intelligence. Unlike other robots they aren’t humanoids looking like persons, they look like moving boxes.
Other delivery robots can fly, such as delivery drones, but we will cover this in future articles.
How do they work?
Customers order through a website or an app, picking from a list of select suppliers and provide their location. The delivery robot will then go fetch the items at the supplier and deliver them to the customer.
Once the robot collected the item(s), it calculates the best route to your home considering a wide panel of elements including road crossings, driveways, sidewalks, and more. Constantly aware of its environment through its sensors and cameras, the robot makes its way slowly but surely to its destination.
When it arrives at its destination, it is unlocked by the same mobile app used to order, with a unique identifier (code, QR code, or else) safely delivering the items, without human interactions.
Watch this video from about some of the best delivery robots currently:
Who uses delivery robots, and where?
For now these robots are only available in select locations, primarily in the USA, but they are making headways and headlines across the world from Asia to Europe.
Primarily used for food delivery services, they are quickly expanding to other verticals such as necessities and personal products. The pandemic has accelerated their usage and growth as it provides a safe way to deliver products without the health risks associated with traditional delivery services.
Delivery robots have seen a particularly large growth in their usage in the UK where the pandemic has forced millions of people to stay confined at home for long periods of time. Some grocery-shopping chains have adopted the technology, as well as restaurants for meal deliveries.
Should I get started with delivery robots? How?
If you are running a direct-to-customer retail company, you may want to start looking into robots, informing yourself on the ones that could become your reality in the short to mid-term. Obviously, if you are primarily selling larger items it might not be adapted yet to your needs.
If you decide to move forward with delivery robots, we recommend you start by considering your customers’ needs and expectations:
Would robot delivery appeal to your customers?
Would it bring value to them ?
Would it remove friction or provide a faster option?
Then think about your operational organization, and how these would fit in your current delivery chain. Would that be feasible? Are your customers “close-enough” to benefit from this service, or would it mean that you would need to build a network of warehouses, the robots only performing the so-called “last-mile” service?
Currently, delivery robots are limited in the weight they can carry, and in the distance they can cover. We however expect this to change rapidly in the future.
Get in touch with us, and we can help you identify the best way forward with delivery robots.
Learn more about delivery robots:
Delivery robots makers:
Tele retail ( A Swiss startup!)
Articles about delivery robots: