"DoorDash customers in Phoenix may soon have their delivery order brought to them by an autonomous Waymo vehicle. The two companies announced a partnership today that will bring Waymo's driverless Jaguar SUVs into the DoorDash delivery fleet. It's another example of delivery companies like DoorDash trying to slash costs associated with its human workforce by bringing more autonomous delivery onto its platform."
"Waymo will start out by delivering orders from DoorDash's DashMart convenience, grocery, and retail store in Phoenix, with plans to add more restaurants, retail, and grocery stores over time. DoorDash customers who order items from DashMart may be matched with a Waymo vehicle as their delivery vehicle. Once it arrives, customers can use their DoorDash app to unlock the vehicle's trunk to retrieve their order."
"It remains to be seen how customers will react. No driver means no one to ring your doorbell or trudge up four flights of stairs to hand over your pad thai. All communication about the order will happen through the app. Customers may or may not appreciate having to walk down to the street to retrieve their orders. Other companies have tried this model, and it's been a mixed bag."
DoorDash and Waymo partnered to deploy Waymo's driverless Jaguar SUVs into DoorDash's delivery fleet in Phoenix. The service will begin by delivering items from DashMart convenience, grocery, and retail stores, with plans to expand to additional restaurants and retailers. DashMart orders may be matched to a Waymo vehicle whose trunk customers can unlock through the DoorDash app to retrieve purchases. Waymo's vehicles operate on roads rather than sidewalks, promising potentially faster deliveries than sidewalk robots. DoorDash is also piloting its own sidewalk robot, Dot, and working with other robot operators. Customer reactions and last-mile logistics remain uncertain.
Read at The Verge
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]