Robotic Grocery Stores Pop Up Nationwide

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Have no fear. A robotic grocery store is minutes away with midnight munchies and sundry items you’re likely to find difficult to live without until morning.

The newest robotic grocery kiosks in the US are the size of an enclosed bus stop and are built to withstand the elements. They are self-contained, refrigerated vending machines with Web-based real-time online management that can carry up to 200 items ranging in weight from one ounce to eight pounds. Inventory selection for these kiosks, which are restocked daily, is usually based on the top-selling items at local grocery stores. These kiosks accept cash, debit cards, and credit cards. For grocers, they are another way to reach customers, improve the bottom line, and stave off market encroachment by convenience stores.

Kiosks that sell food and supplies in population-dense areas like college campuses, city centers, and self-contained communities isn’t exactly a new idea. But robotics, wireless technology, and networking are making the concept bigger and better and allowing the kiosks to perform more complex tasks. The models being installed now allow about seven items to be selected at a time and delivered to the consumer in a robotic basket. As far as logistics go, you won’t encounter one in the middle of the desert or up on the moon yet. Connectivity comes in via wireless modem or DSL, and a dedicated power outlet keeps perishables cool.

Technology used in other industries -- RFID tagging, electronic kiosks of all flavors, digital signage -- is surging into retail environments, identifying niches, and putting down roots. Grocery kiosks are a higher-tech adaptation of devices from the vending machine industry. Unlike some of the other technologies, the robotic kiosks are meant not to enhance the shopping experience in stores, but to create a self-contained retail environment where there wasn’t one before. The store is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week to serve consumers who might have limited options and access to the products they need.

College campuses are a no-brainer, but the kiosks are also being installed in residential communities. They even make sense on large corporate campuses. With a grocery kiosk at work, you could pick up a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk on your way out the door, instead of making that extra stop on your way home. In the United States, we’ve overlooked this concept for a long time, mostly because in most of the country, we tend to travel by car, and we have cheap real estate to put up more grocery stores. No wonder the machines in train stations and urban hubs in Europe and Asia make us feel like we have a long way to go to catch up.

Retail innovations seem to be moving in hyperspeed. Looking at the then-futuristic world of the 1960s cartoon The Jetsons, it doesn’t seem too far fetched now to imagine those robotic machines processing grocery purchases and delivering a tuna casserole and mixed green salad for dinner.