Grocery shopping is about to get the autonomous treatment, thanks to a partnership between supermarket giant Kroger and Nuro, the creator of the first fully autonomous road vehicle.
Kroger announced on Thursday that it would be teaming up with Nuro to to provide grocery shoppers with the ability to place same-day delivery orders through the supermarket’s ClickList ordering system and a Nuro app. Orders will then be delivered by a fleet of completely unmanned autonomous vehicles.
“Unmanned delivery will be a game-changer for local commerce, and together with Kroger, we’re thrilled to test this new delivery experience to bring grocery customers new levels of convenience and value,” said Dave Ferguson, Nuro’s co-founder, in a statement.
Details on a pilot version of the program will be announced soon, according to Kroger, and the company expects to begin the fully autonomous deliveries this fall.
Kroger boasts a large retail footprint, with 2,800 stores in 35 states. During its last fiscal year, it almost doubled its online sales and grew its total sales by 6.4% to nearly $122.7 billion.