3 minute read
ROBOT DELIVERIES
RETAIL TECH: LMAD
THE ROBOTS ARE TAKING OVER, BUT WILL THEY DELIVER?
WITH TECHNOLOGY RATTLING ALONG AT A TERRIFYING PACE AND HOME DELIVERY THE NEXT MAJORBATTLEFIELD, MORE AND MORE ‘LAST MILE’ SOLUTIONS ARE NOW MAKING IT TO MARKET. THIS WEEKWE VISIT FINLAND – VIRTUALLY – TO FIND OUT ABOUT THE LATEST NEW SOLUTION.
BY ANTONY BEGLEY
Robots and drones delivering groceries is hardly a new concept. We’re all aware of the trials being run by global giants like Amazon, as reported in the last issue of The Week In Retail, but the global behemoths aren’t the only ones developing complex new ‘last mile’ tech solutions to cash in on the recent dovetailing booms in retail tech and home delivery.
Startups like Starship Technologies (founded by Skype co-founders Ahti Heinla and Janus Friis) have been using robots to deliver food on a limited scale in the US since earlier this year. The global battle of the robots was ramped up another notch over the last month with the launch of a new autonomous delivery platform.
Startup company LMAD (Last Mile Automated Delivery) has developed a platform that allows customers to order their groceries online and have them delivered by LMAD’s autonomous delivery robot.
The solution was trialled in Finland at Aalto University Campus, a parkland-style area in the city of Espoo and home to several high-tech companies, the university’s buildings and a student village with more than 4,000 residents.
The local K-Market grocery store participated in the trial, viewing it as a safe and convenient way to meet the needs of consumers in a pandemic.
“I believe that the more options the customers have, the better,” says store owner Alexi Tapani. “With the robot, we have been giving customers one additional option to receive the goods for themselves, with less human interaction than with a traditional delivery.”
Tapani believes home deliveries are set to grow, as more and more people become aware of how time-consuming going to a physical store can be, and how much easier it is to order some goods online and wait for them at home. Meeting customers’ expectations with home delivery, however, comes at the cost of margin as part of the cost of the delivery is absorbed by merchants.
[ Alexi Tapani, K-Market Otaniemi ]
“The question is how to make last-mile delivery profitable,” he says. “Automatisation and robotics can be part of the solution which is why I was keen on getting in this pilot and seeing what it would bring.”
The experiment was a success however, so much so that Tapani will take part in the next LMAD operation next month.
In addition, LMAD will be deploying a full delivery service at Nokia’s campus in the outskirts of Paris by the end of the year and conducting another test drive of the platform in Finland in November.
Furthermore, as LMAD’s software can operate multiple types of autonomous delivery robot, additional pilots are planned for elsewhere, to test the platform with devices made by other manufacturers.
Once a futuristic concept, autonomous deliveries are now very much a real part of the modern convenience retailing environment and their use and influence is only set to grow.
AMAZON SCOUT
As reported in the last issue of The Week In Retail,Amazon has confirmed that its Amazon Scout robotdelivery vehicles are being developed for use in theUK to capitalise on the boom in online shopping.
The company is developing software at itscentre in Cambridge to help Scout delivery devices“safely and autonomously navigate aroundpedestrians, pets and obstacles found in residentialneighbourhoods such as recycling bins and signposts”.
The six-wheeled delivery robot was unveiledlast year and has been undergoing field tests in theUS. The devices are delivering in several US citiesMonday to Friday during daylight hours. In the UK,the devices will autonomously follow their deliveryroute, initially accompanied by an Amazon ScoutAmbassador.
