Kroger has started the trial of its autonomous grocery delivery service in Scottsdale, Arizona, and the service is capable of same-day grocery deliveries to consumers in the city.
The retailer partnered with autonomous vehicle manufacturer Nuro in June to launch the service, and the two companies stated at the time that they would announce the location of the trial at a later date, and Scottsdale was chosen partially due to the state’s accommodating laws regarding driverless vehicles.
Consumers will be charged a flat fee of $5.95 for the service, which they can access when ordering food from Kroger’s Fry Foods store online or through an app.
Grocery deliveries can be scheduled for same-day or next-day delivery, and orders will then be delivered directly to consumers by Nuro’s fleet of driverless vehicles.
The pilot will initially utilise Nuro’s driverless Toyota Prius fleet, though later this year the custom R1 driverless vehicle will begin operations. in the city.
Kroger’s chief digital officer Yael Cosset said: “We’re excited to launch our autonomous vehicle delivery pilot with Fry’s in Scottsdale.
“Kroger wants to bring more customers the convenience of affordable grocery delivery, and our pilot with Nuro will help us test and learn to understand customer acceptance of autonomous vehicles in our seamless offering.
“We thank Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, Scottsdale Mayor Jim Lane, and the Scottsdale community for being terrific partners and for supporting customer-focused innovation.”
Nuro co-founder Dave Ferguson added: “Arizona is home to some of the most innovative autonomous vehicle testing.
“We’re proud to contribute and turn our vision for local commerce into a real, accessible service that residents of Scottsdale can use immediately.
“Our goal is to save people time, while operating safely and learning how we can further improve the experience.”
© FoodBev Media Ltd 2024