The Save Mart Cos., based in Modesto, California, recently announced the launch of an on-demand grocery delivery service to its customers at the Save Mart flagship store in Modesto in partnership with robot delivery company, Starship Technologies.
The Save Mart Cos. is the first grocer in the U.S. to partner with Starship Technologies. The debut of the advanced contactless delivery service embraces the flagship store’s role as an innovation lab and precedes the one-year anniversary of the store’s celebrated opening in October 2019.
“We continually seek new ways to serve our communities and offer solutions for efficient, safe and healthy grocery shopping,” said Robert Cady, senior director of marketing strategy and analytics for the Save Mart Cos. “Through our partnership with Starship Technologies, Save Mart is pleased once again to lead the way in customer service and innovation.”
The robots, each of which can carry up to 20 pounds of groceries, can travel up to four miles roundtrip and provide a safe, low-cost and contactless delivery alternative for Save Mart shoppers.
Based in San Francisco and a leader in the field, Starship Technologies robots have completed over 500,000 autonomous deliveries and crossed more than five million streets. The company operates commercially on a daily basis around the world.
The robots move at pedestrian speed and use a combination of sophisticated machine learning, artificial intelligence and sensors to travel on sidewalks and navigate around obstacles. They can cross streets, climb curbs, travel at night and operate in both rain and snow.
The computer vision-based navigation helps the robots to map their environment to the nearest inch. A team of humans can also monitor their progress remotely and can take control at a moment’s notice.
Starship Technologies is revolutionizing deliveries with autonomous robots. Starship was founded by two Skype co-founders, Ahti Heinla and Janus Friis. Former AirBnB executive Lex Bayer is CEO.
