- Title: Ocado steers online shopping in new direction
- Date: 3rd July 2017
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (JUNE 30, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SELF-DRIVING VEHICLE DRIVING ALONG STREET VARIOUS OF VEHICLE PARKED VARIOUS OF THE BACK OF THE VEHICLE (SOUNDBITE) (English) SMART MOBILITY CONSULTANT LUKAS NEKKERMAN SAYING: "My personal view is that the biggest hurdle is the social one. We need to get the autonomous vehicles out onto the street, get people to buy into the concept, and trust that the technology is up to the job." DELIVERY DRIVER TALKING TO CUSTOMER (SOUNDBITE) (English) OCADO CUSTOMER, SAYING: "I'm an economist so there is always cost associated with decisions like that. But if the price was right or if it was a free delivery, then absolutely."
- Embargoed: 17th July 2017 15:22
- Keywords: self-driving cars ocado supermarket deliveries driverless vehicles online shopping in London
- Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK
- City: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Company News Markets,Economic Events
- Reuters ID: LVA0016O5XXFX
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Online-only supermarket Ocado has trialled what it calls the UK's first driverless grocery delivery.
The so-called CargoPod has been developed by tech firm Oxbotica, and follows a set route to customers' doorsteps.
The shopping is then collected by hitting a button which opens the appropriate container on the side.
For the tests, a safety driver and Ocado delivery person were on hand to make sure things ran smoothly, but Ocado says the technology could be in place for fully-autonomous delivery vehicles as early as 2021.
From drones to self driving trucks - companies are battling to transform how they get goods to customers, fast.
But the biggest challenge could be navigating the legislative barriers before full autonomy can be rolled out. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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