Robot couriers are being rented – Kommersant FM
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Yandex is going to rent out its robot couriers. The company said it is currently discussing this issue with large chain supermarkets, coffee shops and fast food restaurants. The maximum delivery distance is expected to be 2 km. The corporation promises to undertake technical support and warranty service for the machines, as well as the creation of maps that the robots will use to navigate the city.
How promising is this model? The head of the Infoline-Analytics company, Mikhail Burmistrov, believes that it has several limitations, but overall the idea can be viable: “The key problem is that you need to go down to the robot. This, obviously, immediately excludes the transportation of relatively large or fairly heavy cargo and gives greater restrictions on weather conditions. After all, in the rain, for example, people simply may not want to pick up the parcel.
Such issues are resolved through some kind of promotions, that is, when delivery by robot is cheaper than by a regular courier. As for some anti-vandalism stories, the protection of cars is now quite high. The robot itself is heavy, so it will not be possible to lift it and carry it away, and it is also extremely difficult to open the lid. Plus, if the robot leaves the route, it immediately starts squealing, and the operator monitors this.
Meanwhile, you need to understand how the subscription scheme will be structured. Rent as a percentage of the order cost is a more understandable scheme when, roughly speaking, Yandex will receive money from each completed case. At the initial stage, renting a robot on a daily basis is too risky for some players. From Yandex’s perspective, economic efficiency is achieved at around 12 deliveries per day, which looks quite realistic.”
Two years ago, Yandex and Russian Post launched a joint experiment on robot delivery. During this time, courier vehicles delivered about 18 thousand parcels to customers. Now the project has been discontinued, but this does not mean that nothing will come of renting robots, emphasized Sergei Polovnikov, head of the Content Review agency:
“Providing robots for rent is a logical step. The cars have already proven themselves during different seasons; in principle, they cope.
For some premium services – restaurants, coffee shops – or delivery services for some things, this is a completely normal and interesting working scheme. We are talking about the Patriarch’s Ponds area, the Golden Mile or similar locations in Moscow.
Of course, this will be more difficult in the regions, since Yandex robots themselves are quite expensive. It is unlikely that the mass segment – food delivery, some pizzeria or boulangerie – will be able to afford such a tool. But premium services, where the “wow effect” is really important, are fine.
The only problem can be that the robots need to be repaired, and the components they use are foreign. Whether Yandex has enough of them is a question. At the same time, the completion of the project with Russian Post fits well into the good figures of the case. Another thing is that the state company itself is a social business. But for a social service such things are quite expensive.
However, they delivered real orders, got real experience and numbers on loading and so on. And all this, of course, will greatly help Yandex to form a good and high-quality business model for this project.”
Yandex currently has 130 robot couriers, and by 2024 the company expects to double its fleet.
Everything is clear with us – Telegram channel “Kommersant FM”.
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