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Kroger announced plans Thursday to partner with driverless car company Nuro to deliver groceries using its autonomous vehicles.
The partnership comes as the largest U.S. grocery players continue to tackle the expensive challenge of "last mile delivery" — the final step in getting a product to a shopper's home. It is a feat that is particularly perilous when dealing with fragile products like fresh food. It is further complicated by populations that vary wildly across the U.S., with some far less dense that others.
[...] Earlier this month, [Kroger] said that digital sales for the past quarter had grown 66 percent.
"We cannot just rely on physical stores to reach all of our customers for delivery and and pick-up," said Yael Cosset, Kroger's chief digital officer, in an interview with CNBC.
Kroger has more than 2,800 stores across the U.S., under banners like Fred Meyer, Ralph's and Harris Teeter.
[...] Kroger and Nuro will begin their partnership this fall. Cosset did not detail a timeline, but did say it would be "aggressive." It will experiment with the technology in areas that both overlap with and are separate from where it plans to build out its Ocado warehouses.
[...] In its earlier days, shoppers will need to schedule windows of delivery in advance, but Dave Ferguson, Nuro's co-founder, said he envisions a longer-term model through which shoppers order more on-demand. Nuro also plans partnerships with other retailers beyond Kroger, which it may build by sharing a cut of the revenue.
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/27/kroger-to-soon-begin-driverless-grocery-delivery.html
Related Stories
Kroger launches autonomous grocery delivery service in Arizona
Starting today, residents of Scottsdale, Arizona have the opportunity to receive autonomous grocery deliveries from Fry's Food Stores—a brand owned by grocery giant Kroger. The technology is supplied by Nuro, a self-driving vehicle startup founded by two veterans of Google's self-driving car project. We profiled the company in May.
Kroger says that deliveries will have a flat $5.95 delivery fee, and customers can schedule same-day or next-day deliveries. Initially, the deliveries will be made by Nuro's fleet of modified Toyota Priuses with a safety driver behind the wheel. But Kroger expects to start using Nuro's production model—which doesn't even have space for a driver—this fall.
Kroger is the United States's largest supermarket chain by revenue, the second-largest general retailer (behind Walmart), and the eighteenth largest company in the United States.
Previously: An Unmanned Car May Soon Deliver Your Kroger Groceries
Related: Walmart and Waymo to Trial Driverless Shuttle Service in Phoenix for Grocery Pickups
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 29 2018, @06:58PM (7 children)
As a Michigan company, the s at the end is mandatory. Krogers, Meijers, Walmarts, etc. And fuck Krogers, they suck. Bought Hillers and ruined the only good grocery store chain around. Now I have to go to Whole Foods to get half the variety at twice the price and it's mostly imported rather than local. Fuck you Krogers!
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 29 2018, @08:58PM (1 child)
Kroger isn't a Michigan company. It was founded and is based in Cincinnati, OHIO. Get outta here thieving Michigan scum and stay away from Toledo! It's still ours!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 30 2018, @01:44AM
That certainly helps to explain why they suck so much
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 29 2018, @09:17PM (4 children)
The real reason that store is garbage is because it uses a stupid loyalty card scheme where they jack up the prices on all their goods and then bring them back down to normal levels if you have a card. Since I value my privacy and don't like overpaying, I steer clear of such stores.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday June 29 2018, @10:27PM (3 children)
ALDI remains the top tier store. No loyalty card, no cart without a quarter.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Saturday June 30 2018, @09:41AM (2 children)
Which one is in the US, the one with the blue logo, or the one with the yellow?
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Saturday June 30 2018, @10:11AM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Aldi_Sud_Logo_2017.png [wikipedia.org]
Aldi Sud
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 30 2018, @01:13PM
Wikipedia says they both operate in the US.
(Score: 2) by SomeGuy on Friday June 29 2018, @07:54PM (1 child)
What could possibly go wrong with self driving vehicles run by Freddy Krogers. Nightmare on every street.
They already track the hell of of idiots that shop there as they must use consumer tracking cards. No way a self driving vehicle won't acquire more more data about you.
Who can even afford these kinds of services anyway? Grocery delivery? Restaurants that require reservations? Are there even that many people with that kind money left?
(Score: 2) by frojack on Friday June 29 2018, @09:20PM
Exactly.
Two homeless people with masks can trap a driver-less car while a third robs it blind and sends it on its way.
I can't see this working any better than the sidewalk driving pizza deliver bot talked about on SN.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Gaaark on Friday June 29 2018, @09:13PM (1 child)
You have cars with drivers killing people.
You have autonomous cars with 'drivers' killing people.
Now they want driverless cars killing people.
Teh future: people just look at groceries/cars and kill themselves?
"Our car is delivering your groceries...would you like brains or intestines with that?"
(From front of car): "I'm not dead...i'm getting better!"
Aaargh
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. I have always been here. ---Gaaark 2.0 --
(Score: 2) by Aegis on Friday June 29 2018, @09:38PM
Well to be fair, the driverless driverless car is the only one that hasn't killed anyone yet!