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grocery delivery

December 18, 2019

California DMV to Allow Light-Duty Self-Driving Vehicles for Tasks like Grocery Delivery

Self-driving grocery and food delivery just got one step closer to becoming a reality in California. The Golden State announced yesterday that light-duty autonomous delivery vehicles can now be tested and put to commercial use on the state’s public roads after going through the proper permitting process with the Department of Motor Vehicles (h/t The Verge).

From the press announcement:

Under revised regulations approved Monday by the Office of Administrative Law, companies with a DMV permit can operate autonomous delivery vehicles weighing less than 10,001 pounds. The DMV can begin approving new applications in 30 days. Qualifying vehicles include autonomous passenger cars, midsized pickup trucks and cargo vans carrying goods such as pizza or groceries.

You can read the full list of requirements here.

This is good news for startups like Nuro and Robomart, both of which use pod-like low-speed vehicles for delivery, are half the size of regular cars, and do not have space for a driver. Though both companies are based in California, the bulk of their public testing has occurred out of that state. Nuro in particular has done grocery delivery in Arizona and Texas in partnership with Kroger, while Robomart announced a test with ShopRite in Boston.

But the new rules are also a boon to AutoX, which operates full-sized autonomous vehicles for food delivery as well as mobile commerce. Presumably, this would also help a company like Refraction, which has three-wheeled autonomous vehicles that are smaller than Nuro’s pods but still operate on roads, if they choose to enter the California market.

Some autonomous grocery and food delivery has already been happening in California. The aforementioned AutoX has been operating in San Jose, and online grocer Farmstead has been working with self-driving van startup Udelv for grocery delivery. In those examples, though, a human driver is on-board for safety reasons.

As we’ve covered before, advancements in delivery technology, whether it be self-driving vehicles or high-flying drones, present a challenge for local and city governments. They must balance the desire to adopt new tech while maintaining the safety of its citizens as well as recouping revenues lost from traditional systems being replaced (think: parking fees lost from autonomous ride-sharing). It’s happening quickly and in the coming year we can expect a flurry of new laws across the country as states try to adapt.

December 10, 2019

Nuro and Walmart Partner for Autonomous Grocery Delivery in Houston

Walmart and Nuro announced a collaboration today in which the two companies will pilot autonomous grocery delivery in Houston, TX via Nuro’s self-driving pod-like vehicles.

According to the press release:

In the coming months, the autonomous delivery service will be available to Houston customers who have opted into the program. The service will use R2, Nuro’s custom-built delivery vehicle that carries only products with no onboard driver or passengers, and autonomous Toyota Priuses, all powered by Nuro’s proprietary self-driving software and hardware.

Nuro’s R2 pods are low-speed vehicles roughly half the size of regular cars. There are two compartments for cargo, and literally no room for a driver. The advantage of the R2 is that is is more nimble than a full-sized auto and can’t drive as fast. This could make it a “safer” choice than self-driving cars as local governments look to regulate the emerging world of autonomous vehicles on city streets.

This is not the first autonomous delivery rodeo for either Walmart or Nuro. Nuro has tested self-driving grocery delivery for Kroger in Arizona as well as Houston. Walmart announced a partnership with self-driving van delivery startup Udelv earlier this year, and with Gaitek in July to make “middle mile” deliveries between Walmart stores.

Questions remain, however, about whether consumers will want fully autonomous grocery delivery devoid of any human. While it opens up a whole new world of around-the-clock delivery, the drawback is that the vehicles stop at the curb, so shoppers still need to go out to the vehicle and lug the groceries back in. Most of the time, that’s probably a first-world problem. However, it becomes more of an issue if you in a fourth-floor apartment or have mobility issues.

Houston, which has become quite the hotbed for self-driving vehicles and robots. In addition to Kroger, Nuro has been doing self-driving pizza delivery for Domino’s there. Starship robots are now rolling around the University of Houston delivering food to hungry students and staff.

Kroger and Nuro’s pilot will first be available to a select group of those who have opted-in to the service, with plans to expand to the general public later in 2020.

November 22, 2019

Walmart’s Jet.com Shuttering Fresh Food Delivery in NYC

Jet.com, which is owned by Walmart, is ceasing delivery of fresh groceries in New York City only a little more than a year after the service started.

Bloomberg first reported the story, writing:

The retailer will close a warehouse in the Bronx it was using to prepare orders and also let some drivers go, resulting in the loss of between 200 and 300 jobs, according to a person familiar with the decision. Jet — which will continue to sell dry groceries like cereal and other general merchandise — will inform customers of the news Friday and fulfill any existing orders already placed.

Jet’s move into fresh food delivery kicked off last year with a hyper-targeted focus on New York City. In addition to general fresh food, Jet also offered delivery of NYC-specific items from retailers like Bedford Cheese Shop, Orwashers Bakery and Just Bagels. (An interesting sidenote, around the same time as the Jet announcement, Walmart also announced it was acquiring Latin American online grocer, Cornershop. That deal also went bust after facing Mexican regulators).

But as Bloomberg reports, problems plagued Jet’s NYC service from the start with warehouse issues, product price fluctuations, hiked delivery fees and lots of items being out-of-stock.

Walmart acquired Jet.com for $3.3 billion in 2016 [–LINK?–]as part of an effort to expand its customer base and reach urban millennials. But a lot has changed since 2016, and even since 2017 when Jet launched the New York City delivery service.

Spurred on by Amazon getting into the grocery space, Walmart has been quick to expand its own grocery delivery and curbside pickup options independent of Jet. Walmart has been piloting automated micro-fulfillment for faster order assembly, is rolling out its Delivery Unlimited service to 1,400 stores nationwide this year, and is testing out in-home delivery.

And while Walmart lags behind Amazon is overall online grocery retail sales, research this year showed that Walmart shoppers spent more online per for groceries with Walmart than they were at Amazon.

Jet.com closing fresh food delivery in NYC wasn’t the first sign of its flagging importance to Walmart. Earlier this year Walmart conducted a sweeping overhaul of its Jet.com unit after it failed to meet expectations.

November 12, 2019

Amid Strikes (and Holidays!), Instacart Cuts Bonuses for its Shopper Workforce

One would think that Instacart, a startup that has raised nearly $2 billion in funding, would not want to do anything that could be perceived as particularly Grinch-y this time of year. But evidently Instacart has no such holiday hangups.

Last week, the online grocery delivery company cut bonuses for its Shoppers, the contract workers who go out and do the actual work of getting and delivering groceries to customers. The cut came just days after those Shoppers instituted a three-day work stoppage to protest previous changes to their pay.

According to The Mercury News, on November 8 Instacart cut the $3 per order quality bonuses its Shoppers received for getting a five star review. The Mercury News writes:

“Over the last several years, we’ve experimented with numerous versions of the quality bonus, in addition to other boosts and incentives,” Instacart said in a message informing shoppers of the cut. “During the last year, we offered a new version of the quality bonus and found that it did not meaningfully improve quality.”

Vanessa Bain is an Instacart Shopper who helped organize last week’s work stoppage after the company changed the default tip and service fee structure. After Instacart eliminated the quality bonus, Bain wrote a post on Medium saying this latest move could mean a pay cut as much as 40 percent per order.

Quick sidenote, as if all that weren’t enough, evidently after Bain first posted story to Medium about the quality bonus cut, Instacart reportedly had it taken down for violating Medium’s rules. The post was since reinstated without addressing individuals.

For its part, Instacart told The Mercury News that the quality bonus cut was “not a form a retaliation.” Whether or not Instacart’s motivations were legitimate or not kinda doesn’t matter. The optics on it are really bad. Does it really want to antagonize its workforce as we enter the next Thanksgiving, where people will be shopping for all kinds of food? Especially since Amazon now offers free grocery delivery for Prime members and Walmart rolls out its Delivery Unlimited service nationwide.

Maybe don’t be a mean one, Instacart?

October 29, 2019

Why Amazon Made Grocery Delivery Free for Prime Members

The war to win your online grocery shopping dollars escalated this morning as Amazon announced it was now offering unlimited free grocery delivery for its Prime members. The move waives the previous $14.99 delivery fee and offers options for one- and two-hour delivery through Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods Market.

Why did Amazon make this move now? I mean, obviously it’s using all of the levers at its disposal to get more of your dollars (and shopping data!) as it fends off grocery rivals like Walmart, Kroger and Target. With an estimated 105 million Prime members in the U.S., Amazon has a sizeable audience that it can sway, and it needed to move the needle when it comes to online grocery shopping.

Though online grocery is a small sliver of the overall grocery shopping now, it’s growing, and Amazon needs to change the nature of how people shop for groceries on its site. Research from Coresight earlier this year showed that Amazon was already leading in online grocery shopping, but with a pretty big caveat. As we wrote in May:

When consumers are buying groceries online, Amazon.com is the top place to do it. Coresight says 62.5 percent of who bought groceries online did so through Amazon, which commands a double digit lead over competitors like Walmart and Target (see below). It should be noted, however, that most of this shopping is through Amazon proper, not Amazon Fresh or Prime Now, and that Amazon shoppers generally spend less on groceries there than at Walmart.com, Target.com or Kroger.com, making Amazon shoppers “occasional or small-basket online shoppers.”

By making grocery delivery free for Prime members, Amazon is looking to convert casual shoppers into more dedicated big basket ones.

This new Prime perk also comes just a month after Amazon rival Walmart announced it was rolling out its Delivery Unlimited service nationwide. As the name states, Delivery Unlimited gives Walmart shoppers unlimited grocery delivery for $98/year or $12.95/month. Amazon Prime is $119/year or $12.99/month and includes faster shipping on items ordered through Amazon, as well as video and music streaming services.

We would be remiss if we didn’t note that waiving the grocery delivery fee also comes as Amazon is reportedly prepping its own chain of supermarkets separate from its Whole Foods subsidiary. We don’t have any details on this new chain yet, but it’s not hard to imagine that online grocery shopping and Prime member benefits will be baked into its infrastructure from, well, Day 1.

In its announcement blog post, Amazon said that Prime members currently using the grocery delivery can continue to use the service. Other Prime members who live in one of the 2,000+ locations where grocery is available can request an invitation to shop Amazon Fresh or Whole Foods delivery at amazon.com/grocery, and will be notified when they are able to do so.

October 15, 2019

Walmart Officially Launches In-Home Delivery in Kansas City, Pittsburgh and Vero Beach

Online grocery shopping took another big step today… inside your house. Walmart officially launched its InHome Delivery service in the previously announced cities of Kansas City, MO; Pittsburg, PA; and Vero Beach, FLA.

For those unfamiliar, InHome uses a combination of smart locks and live streaming so Walmart delivery people can get inside your house (or garage) to drop off your groceries, and even put items in your fridge.

Customers in these select cities interested in trying out the service can go to InHome.Walmart.com to see if their address is eligible. If so, they select whether they want delivery in a kitchen or garage fridge and also need to buy a fifty dollar smart lock (which includes professional installation). Once the smart lock is set up, customers get unlimited deliveries for an introductory price of $19.95 per month (with a $30 minimum per basket).

When a delivery arrives, the customer is notified and then the delivery person gains access via the smart lock. The delivery people wear cameras that livestream their actions so shoppers can watch deliveries remotely on the Walmart app.

What Walmart didn’t address specifically in its post is how long this $19.95 introductory price will last, or how any change in price will square with other delivery options. Just last month, Walmart announced it was expanding its Delivery Unlimited service, which hands items to you at your door, nationwide for $98 a year or $12.95 a month. How much more will people pay to get their groceries put in the fridge while they are out?

While online grocery shopping is still a small percentage of overall grocery shopping, it’s definitely growing. Retailers like Walmart, Amazon, Target, and Kroger are all working on ways to make the process more fast and convenient. Robotic warehouses, micro-fulfillment, self-driving delivery vehicles are just a few ways supermarket chains are transforming how we get our groceries.

But is in-home delivery a bridge too far? I’m a bit older so the idea of letting a stranger into my home just to drop off food seems ridiculous. But we live in a time of letting strangers ride in our cars and sleep in our houses, so maybe it’s just a generational thing.

InHome may not be for me, but I’m curious if any of you will try it. If you’re InHome curious in Kansas City, Pittsburgh or Vero Beach and try it out — drop us a line to let us know how it goes!

September 18, 2019

AutoX Drives off with $100M in Funding to Expand its Autonomous Vehicle Fleet

Self-driving vehicle company AutoX closed a $100M Series A funding round earlier this week, reports KrAsia. This round was led by state-owned Chinese car company Dongfeng Motor, with participation from Alibaba, Silicon Valley’s Plug and Play China fund and Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation. This brings the total amount raised by AutoX to $160.1 million.

In addition to building an autonomous driving platform that can be integrated into standard vehicles, the company launched a unique grocery delivery + mobile commerce pilot in San Jose, CA in August last year. While the service allows users to order groceries through the AutoX app on their phone, the delivery vehicle itself is also stocked with items that can be purchased on the spot.

In January of this year, we reported on how AutoX was quietly expanding into more restaurant delivery. Delivering meals allowed for more stops per trip, and helped avoid one of the drawbacks of self-driving grocery delivery–the fact that groceries can be heavy and consumers still need to lug them from the curb to the house or up apartment stairs.

Unlike Nuro or RoboMart which make small, low-speed pod-like vehicles, AutoX is intentionally sticking with full-sized autonomous driving. The company believes the longer distances and faster driving capabilities of full sized cars make them more useful here in the U.S.. Additionally, unlike those self-driving rivals, AutoX is not making its own car and is instead focusing only on the self-driving technology, which can then be applied to different car types like sedans and minivans.

AutoX plans to use its new money to build out its autonomous fleet and hiring up its technical team.

September 4, 2019

Swiggy Goes Beyond Food Delivery With New Service Swiggy Go, Expands Swiggy Stores

Today, India-based delivery service Swiggy took a few steps beyond the food world by launching Swiggy Go, an instant pickup and drop-off service that will deliver everything from laundry to house keys.

Swiggy Go is similar to another service, Swiggy Stores, which the company launched in February of 2019 for delivering household items like groceries and medicine within a one-hour timeframe. It’s also another example of a food delivery company branching out from restaurant food in an effort to become a kind of delivery superpower that can get any item to any person in major cities.

In India, Swiggy competes most closely with another food delivery service, Zomato, but adding non-food items to its delivery capabilities means it will also now be competing with Google-backed concierge service Dunzo, who operates in a handful of cities in India.

Food tech investment in India in general is heating up. In August, ecommerce startup FreshToHome raised a $20 million Series B round. Amazon said in July it is planning to launch a restaurant-delivery service in the country later this year, and Zomato successfully tested a drone pilot this past summer.

It’s possible Swiggy’s sudden move into non-food items is an effort to stand above the rising competition levels in India and become the go-to service in India not just for restaurant meals but for anything a person could want conveniently dropped at the front door. That may be necessary as heavyweights like Amazon — a name basically synonymous with conveniences — plans its moves in the country.

We’re seeing a similar trend start to take shape here in the States: last week, DoorDash announced it is working with Mercato to delivery groceries in 22 different states. It could be only a matter of time before Dashers start dropping non-perishables at your door, too. The next big question is, Will other third-party delivery services do the same?

Swiggy Go is currently available in Bengaluru. The company said it plans to expand the service to over 300 cities. Meanwhile, Swiggy stores will be available in all major metro areas by 2020.

August 28, 2019

Kroger Looks to Build Next Robotic Warehouse in Dallas, Texas

Kroger wants to build its next Ocado-powered robotic smart warehouse in Dallas, TX. The plans aren’t finalized, and as the Dallas News reported:

The Cincinnati-based grocer will ask the Dallas City Council on Wednesday for $5.7 million: 10-year and five-year property and business personal property tax abatements totaling $3.7 million, and $2 million from 2012 bond money designated for economic development in southern Dallas, according to the city’s meeting agenda.

Kroger confirmed with the Dallas News that it is working with the Dallas city council on the approval process.

Kroger has plans to build 20 of these automated fulfillment centers, or “sheds” as the grocer calls them, and Dallas would be the fifth announced location, joining, Monroe, OH, Groveland, FL, Forest Park, GA and one unspecified in the Mid-Atlantic region.

These smart warehouses use technology from UK-based Ocado (in which Kroger is an investor) and combine robots and logistical software to automate fulfillment of online grocery orders. The automated system uses a series of totes on rails to shuttle around a grid system, picking up items and assembling them for orders.

Though the vast majority of Americans have still never bought their groceries online, the number of people who do is steadily growing, and retailers like Kroger are building out the infrastructure now for when it (eventually) becomes mainstream. Kroger, in particular is investing in an online ordering future, as my colleague, Jenn Marston wrote about Kroger’s Q1 earnings report in June:

[Kroger’s] digital sales grew 42 percent over the quarter, making delivery and/or pickup options available to 93 percent of Kroger’s customers. Online grocery delivery is now available at 2,126 Kroger locations and pickup at 1,685 locations. The company plans to have those options available to “everyone in America” by the end of this year…

But Kroger rivals aren’t sitting still. Walmart is testing robotic fulfillment, launching a grocery delivery subscription service and experimenting with in-home delivery. Albertsons and Ahold Delhaize are testing their own robotic fulfillment solutions, too. Given the competition, Kroger has to push its own innovation efforts. For example, just a few hours south of Dallas, down in Houston, Kroger is experimenting with self-driving delivery vehicles.

At some point, Kroger will connect the automated warehouses with the automated vehicles for round the clock delivery to get you the groceries you want when you want them.

August 13, 2019

This Chart Explains Why Grocers are Investing in Logistics and Delivery

We write a lot about automation in the grocery industry. Kroger is building out robot-driven smart warehouses and self-driving delivery. Albertsons is testing out micro-fulfillment centers. Walmart is trying out, well, all of the above. If you’ve ever wondered why retailers are investing so much in logistics and fulfillment, the answer is summed up nicely in the following blog post from data analytics firm Second Measure (h/t TechCrunch):

Most Americans regularly shop at just one or two grocery stores, so it’s not surprising that most online grocery shoppers also stick with their favorite service. This is in contrast to the meal delivery industry, where diners frequently hop between apps to get the broadest selection of restaurants.

With the exception of Instacart, no grocery delivery company shared more than 9 percent of another company’s customers in the second quarter of 2019.

Second Measure even provided this handy chart to illustrate how for grocers, maintaining loyalty is the name of the game.

Second Measure also found that 12 percent of grocery shoppers have tried online grocery shopping, and that number is up from 9 percent from June 2018. These results echo other recent market surveys showing that the number of online grocery shoppers is growing.

If grocery shoppers are loyal, and more of them will be shopping for their groceries online, then retailers who want to retain their customers over the coming years need to invest now in logistical systems to fulfill those orders. Hence automated warehouses and micro-fulfillment centers in the backs of stores. As those processes are automated, they can be tied into other investments grocers are making around delivery and curbside pickup. The faster a grocer can get you your order in a manner that fits your schedule (delivery or pickup), the more likely they can keep your business.

Walmart seems to be off to a good start. Second Measure also found that Walmart has already taken a big lead in online grocery shopping. As of June of this year, the mega retailer had 62 percent more online grocery customers than its closest competitor, Instacart.

It’s said that dominance perpetuates itself, in the case of Walmart and online grocery shopping, that certainly seems to be shaping up to be the case.

July 31, 2019

Delivery.com Acquires Mr. Delivery to Expand Restaurant Delivery Services

NYC-based online platform delivery.com announced today that it has acquired Austin, TX-based Mr. Delivery. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

This marks the sixth acquisition for delivery.com, whose platform connects customers to local retailers and restaurants to facilitate and the order and processing of goods and services. Sat in an NYC subway car at any point in the last five years? They’re frequently plastered with delivery.com ads listing all the different goods the platform can connect you with: restaurant food, groceries, booze, laundry services, etc.

Though its home is in the Big Apple, delivery.com is starting to expand across the rest of the country, with a current roster of cities that includes major metropolises Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington D.C., as well as a handful of mid-sized cities, most of them on the East Coast.

The acquisition of Mr. Delivery sees delivery.com expanding beyond those markets and upping its capabilities around restaurant food delivery. According to a press release, the acquisition will have Delivery.com expanding food delivery into Mr. Delivery’s current 160 cities, giving delivery.com a total presence in 38 states and over 1,800 U.S. cities, with more to come in the future. Meanwhile, Mr. Delivery will assume the delivery.com brand and technologies immediately. Delivery.com said in the press release it hopes to add other services, like grocery and laundry, to Mr. Delivery cities in the near future.

Restaurants who currently work with Mr. Delivery will get access to delivery.com’s order confirmation tools, business analytics, and partner integrations, among other things. In return, delivery.com gets access to last-mile delivery capabilities, as it will have use of Mr. Delivery’s network of drivers. This is the first time in its history delivery.com will actually be able to actually deliver the goods to customers; previously, the platform merely facilitated online orders and payments, leaving the last mile to the merchant.

But it’s a crowded market for both restaurant and grocery services. Between third-party delivery services’ push to mid-sized markets and companies like Walmart and Instacart bringing grocery delivery to every corner of the country, there’s increasingly less room for other players.

Delivery.com’s claim to fame has always been about serving the local business community and connecting customers to neighborhood stores and eateries. This, too, has always been Mr. Delivery’s credo when it comes to restaurant food delivery. Now we have to see if that focus on local is enough to help these companies stand out as they expand.

July 10, 2019

Udelv Partners with HEB for Autonomous Grocery Delivery Test

Autonomous vehicle startup udelv has partnered with Texas-based grocery chain HEB to run a self-driving delivery pilot in the San Antonio area, according to TechCrunch. The HEB agreement adds to udelv’s customer roster, which also includes Walmart and online grocer Farmstead.

The pilot will start with one of udelv’s second-generation Newton self-driving cargo vehicles. Udelv vans come equipped with compartments to store goods or, in this case groceries. Once loaded at the store, the vehicle autonomously travels to its delivery destination (there’s a human on-board for safety) where the user can unlock the compartment with their phone to retrieve their groceries.

If you’re interested in getting your groceries via a self-driving car, Texas is the place to be. In addition to the forthcoming HEB/udelv partnership, earlier this year, Kroger expanded its self-driving grocery delivery via Nuro vehicles to Houston.

The whole self-driving grocery delivery space is just getting off the ground, and exactly what it will ultimately look like remains to be seen. Udelv uses full-sized cargo vans for its deliveries. Nuro uses low speed pod-like vehicles that are half the size of normal cars. Meanwhile, Robomart, which also uses pod-like low-speed vehicles, has partnered with Stop&Shop not for deliveries but to drive around mobile mini-stores that sell various groceries autonomously on the spot.

Vehicles like udelvs have a long delivery range, but their high-speed and heavy mass may encounter more regulatory hurdles as lawmakers learn to cope with self-driving vehicles. Smaller, low-speed vehicles may have an easier time with local laws, but won’t be able to travel as far or as fast.

Hanging over all of this innovation, however, is the question of whether or not customer want autonomous delivery. Once a vehicle arrives at your house, you still have to go out to the curb and lug heavy bags into the house, which can be a pain if you live up a bunch of stairs or are infirmed. That’s one reason why AutoX, which uses regular self-driving sedans for its deliveries and mobile commerce, moved more towards restaurant delivery.

Despite its drawbacks, self-driving delivery has its advantages too. With no humans (eventually) to pay, deliveries can happen around the clock, and software-determined driving, which keeps track of all kinds of data along its path, can make for more efficient routing and delivery.

If you’re a HEB customer in Olmos Park, TX, tell us if you chose self-driving grocery delivery, and how it went.

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