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A Robomart tele-operated vehicle sits outside of a Stop & Shop location. (Courtesy Photo / Stop & Shop)
Stop & Shop will launch a new grocery delivery in Boston later this year, using remotely piloted vehicles customers can summon with an app.
Starting this spring, the vehicles will bring a selection of Stop & Shop produce as well as meal kits and convenience items directly to consumers. The company said the initiative, which it is calling an “engagement” with San Francisco startup Robomart, will also offer the potential for the company to expand beyond its existing brick-and-mortar footprint.
“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,” Mark McGowan, Stop & Shop president, said in a statement.
Stop & Shop customers in the Boston area can summon a Robomart vehicle with a smartphone app. Upon the Robomart vehicle’s arrival, customers head outside, unlock the vehicle’s doors, then personally select the fruits, vegetables and other products they would like to purchase. When finished shopping, they just close the doors and send the vehicle on its way. The vehicles’ RFID and computer vision technology automatically records what customers select to provide a checkout-free experience, and receipts are emailed within seconds.
“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,” Robomart founder and CEO Ali Ahmed said in a statement.
All Robomart vehicles are autonomous, electric and will be remotely piloted from a Robomart facility. Throughout the journey, the teleoperated vehicles will be restocked with fresh Stop & Shop goods to ensure customers are provided with the best selection for purchase.
