Where we are

The onset of autonomous vehicles is being sped up by retailers and e-commerce stores looking to revolutionize goods delivery services. Last-mile delivery technology is being developed by U.S. companies for items like groceries, laundry, parcels and take-out, while China’s JD.com are already using robots to deliver packages.

Where we’re going

Consumers will recognize the efficiency of this service model, while businesses will be incentivized to improve customer experiences. Last mile delivery will be safe and slow and normalize the sight of driverless vehicles in public, helping to facilitate broader acceptance of future autonomous human transportation.

How to think about it

Last mile delivery will primarily utilize vehicles so consider what slice of the delivery pie you could own, from robotic food trucks, to corner stores on wheels, to literally any on-demand consumer good or service. Or move down the stack and create products optimized to stock in autonomous vehicles.

Signals

Walmart Partners With Self-driving Startup Nuro To Test Autonomous Grocery Delivery In Houston

‘Polite’ Robots And Underground Tunnels: Jd’s Vision For Future Smart Cities

Why A Robot Pizza Startup Could Be Worth $4 Billion