The robots are coming, and they’re bringing pizza.
Domino’s is rolling out a robot car delivery service to select customers in Houston. For those who opt-in, their pies will arrive in a fully autonomous vehicle made by Nuro.
Domino’s said Customers in the Woodland Heights neighborhood of Houston can choose robot delivery and receive texts with updates on the car’s location and a numerical code that can be used to retrieve the order. Once the car arrives, the customer enters the number on the bot’s touchscreen, and the car doors open up to serve the food. Nuro’s robot car was the first completely autonomous, human-free on-road delivery vehicle to receive regulatory approval from the US Department of Transportation last year.
This isn’t Domino’s first foray into the world of autonomous deliveries.
In 2017, the Michigan-based company used a self-driving Ford Fusion hybrid to deliver pizzas to randomly chosen customers in Ann Arbor, Michigan. And in 2013, Domino’s tested out pizza delivery via drone in the United Kingdom.
While these experiments are useful to get the ball rolling when it comes to innovation and building buzz for the brand, consumers shouldn’t expect a seismic shift in the way food is delivered. For now, at least.
