This week Pizza Hut Canada announced they are partnering with sidewalk delivery robot startup Serve to run a two-week pilot program in Vancouver, B.C.
The trial will send the Serve robot to select customers’ doors when they place an order via the Pizza Hut app. Customers selected for the trial will be able to track the robot’s location via the app and will use a one-time pin to retrieve their order from the Pizza Hut-branded robot. You can see the robot navigating the streets of Vancouver in the video below.
While various Pizza Hut franchise owners have dabbled in using robotics to make pizzas, this is the first time that we’ve seen the chain use a robotic delivery vehicle. The partnership also marks a first for Serve Robotics as it’s the first time the startup has deployed its delivery bot in Canada.
For now, the two companies are not giving any indication of whether this trial could extend beyond the initial trial. My guess is if things go well, we could see more Pizza Hut locations utilizing the Serve delivery-bot.
These are awesome! My girlfriend and I had one deliver our Pizza Hut order recently, I didn’t see it that night because she went downstairs to get it while I was in the shower, but I saw it a couple nights later traveling down the street near my apartment. So cool! One suggestion I would make though is to put a sign or message on the back that says “Always look both ways when crossing the street and hold your parents hand”, or something along those lines. Just for young children, as I saw a boy really taken by it and excited at what he saw and just thought that kids may try to follow it in their excitement and it’s a good way to remind them not to just walk into the road after it. Just an observation, as if I saw something resembling “Johnny 5” in my childhood (and for the kids now I guess “Wall-E”) I’d want to run after it to say hello and might not heed running into the road after it to do so, lol. Good way to instill good crossing habits as well!