Last updated on April 19th, 2019 at 04:17 pm
With the help of Nuro robotics company, Kroger launched its autonomous grocery delivery service in Houston, Texas.
The service is available at the South Post Oak Kroger, with expansion to the Buffalo Speedway store later this spring.
Houston is the second market for Kroger and Nuro’s delivery service, and it is the first public use of Nuro’s self-driving fleet in the city.
“We’re excited to launch our autonomous vehicle delivery pilot with Nuro in Houston, a leading city that embraces innovation and technology,” said Marlene Stewart, Kroger’s Houston division president. “Kroger continues to redefine the customer experience, and we’re thrilled to provide our customers with a new way to have their groceries delivered. We thank Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and the Houston community for being terrific partners and for supporting consumer-focused robotics.
“Nuro’s initial application of transporting goods through self-driving technology has allowed us to build a real service and have immediate impact on communities,” said co-founder Dave Ferguson. “We are excited to introduce Houston to our time-saving service that provides customers with their groceries quickly and safely.”
Like the first pilot market in Scottsdale, Arizona, the service is starting with self-driving Toyota Priuses. The next generation of the company’s custom driverless vehicles later this year.
Customers can place orders for delivery from the South Post Oak Road store seven days a week. Orders are placed on the Kroger app or at Kroger.com based on slot availability. Orders can be scheduled for same-day or next-day delivery by the manual and self-driving vehicles. There is a flat fee of $5.95 with no minimum order.
Customers across greater Houston will continue to have access to grocery delivery service currently offered by Kroger.
Nuro combines software and hardware expertise to design and build products that accelerate the benefits of robotics for everyday life. Nuro’s first product is a self-driving service for local goods transportation.
