Stop & Shop are due to launch an autonomous, electric, grocery-delivering vehicle this spring. The trial will begin in Boston, and the vehicles will carry an assortment of products from which consumers can choose what they want.
From a smartphone app, customers will be able to summon the vehicle from which they can choose products from upon its arrival. The vehicle will record what has been taken and send customers electronic receipts.
Stop & Shop President, Mark McGowan said, “This is one way in which we’re leveraging new technology to make shopping easier for our customers by essentially bringing the store to them.” Despite the ability to shop online for groceries at many leading supermarkets, the hassle of having to still go to the store to pick them up remains. Stop & Shop hope that the delivery system will be able to eliminate this and make shopping that much easier. Not only this but in future, Stop & Shop hope that this will extend their reach beyond the footprint their stores cover.
Ali Ahmed, founder and CEO of Robomart, the vehicle’s designers, said, “For decades, consumers had the convenience of their local greengrocer and milkman coming door to door, and we believe that by leveraging driverless technology we can recreate that level of convenience and accessibility. We’re extremely excited to bring our vision to life with Stop & Shop.”
