The Co-op is rolling out autonomous grocery delivery robots across Greater Manchester today through its partnership with Starship Technologies and Trafford Council.
Orders are made through the Starship food delivery app with groceries picked fresh in local Co-op stores and delivered to customers in the community on-demand, quickly and conveniently.
The service in Greater Manchester will initially be available to 24,000 residents across 10,500 households.
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The robots are already up and running in other parts of the UK, like Milton Keynes, Northampton, Bedford, Cambridge and Leeds.
Customers are able to choose from a wide range of grocery items from the retailer, schedule their delivery, then drop a pin where they want their delivery to be sent.
They can watch the robot travel in real-time via an interactive map, and will receive an alert when it arrives, and can meet and, then unlock the robot’s lid through the app to retrieve their groceries.
Delivery fees start from just 99p, and Starship’s robots are battery powered, lightweight and travel at the speed of a pedestrian.
Using a combination of sensors, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, the robots can travel on pavements and navigate around any obstacles while computer vision-based navigation helps them map their environment to the nearest inch.
“Co-op stores are well placed in the heart of local communities to provide quick, easy and convenient home deliveries – whether a full shop or last-minute top-ups,” eCommerce director at the Co-op, Chris Conway said.
“We are committed to exploring new and innovative ways to increase access to our products and services, and delighted to be able to roll-out autonomous robots to provide additional online flexibility and choice in Greater Manchester.”
UK Operations Manager at Starship Technologies, Andrew Curtis also commented: “We are very pleased to offer the benefits of autonomous delivery to thousands of residents in Greater Manchester from today and continue our expansion in the north of England.
“The robots provide ease and convenience for people, while also making a positive contribution to reducing congestion and carbon emissions.
Curtis added: “We are confident that the service will be well received and look forward to a long-standing relationship with Trafford Council to hopefully roll the service out further in the months ahead.”
Trafford Council’s executive member for environmental services, Cllr Stephen Adshead said: “We are excited to be working with the Co-op and Starship Technologies to launch this new initiative in the Sale area.
“The robots are a lot of fun and it will be great to see them taking to the streets of the borough.
“But there is a more serious message here – Trafford Council is totally committed to helping the environment and reducing our carbon emissions and the electric robots could well contribute towards those aims,” Adshead commented.
