According to a recent survey by Deloitte, nearly half of Americans are willing to order food from a restaurant that delivers via drones or autonomous vehicles. This is a 3% increase compared to a similar survey conducted in 2021, and is largely due to changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has accelerated the adoption of technology in the food delivery industry.
Restaurants and delivery companies in North America and Europe have experimented with automated delivery methods to reduce costs and improve customer satisfaction. Drones and curbside delivery vehicles are the most commonly used robots in the food delivery industry. Companies such as UPS, Wing Aviation, Amazon and Walmart have received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to use drones for delivery operations. These drones are regulated and have strict guidelines that they must follow.
Autonomous delivery vehicles, roughly the size of a large cooler, have also become a reality, navigating sidewalks and crosswalks to deliver a package. Policy makers have raised concerns about how these vehicles will interact with people and other vehicles in crowded urban environments. Safety and infrastructure utilization are important factors to consider alongside the promised benefits of less congestion and greener shipments.
Despite these challenges, companies such as Bolt, Starship Technologies, and Uber have piloted and implemented robotic delivery services in cities around the world. Marco’s Pizza, a pizza chain with nearly 1,200 locations, is also partnering with Magna, an automotive parts and technology supplier, to test a range of last-mile solutions, including autonomous vehicles.
It’s worth noting that while urban areas are the best markets for online ordering, with 75% of urban consumers engaging digitally in restaurants, there are still concerns about consumer acceptance of robotic delivery technology. The survey found that 71% of consumers are not interested in robotics or automated systems that deliver food, citing concerns about reliability and order accuracy as the main reasons for hesitation.
Despite these challenges, however, Grubhub and Starship Technologies have partnered to launch a robotic food delivery service on the campus of Sam Houston State University in Texas. A fleet of autonomous robots will deliver orders from eight campus eateries, providing students with a fun and innovative solution. While challenges such as consumer acceptance and cost effectiveness still need to be overcome, the future of drone and curbside delivery in the food industry looks promising.
Sources:
– Deloitte survey
– Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
– UPS
– Wing aviation
– Amazon
– Walmart
– Bolt
– Starship Technologies
– Uber
– Marko drinks
– Magna
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2023-10-01 03:29:43
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