U.S. grocery store chain Stop & Shop is currently testing compact, driving mini grocery stores that they plan to implement in Boston this spring.
Each of the carts includes temperature control for maintaining perishables and will be driven from a remote site.
The carts will also feature cashierless technology, which has recently been popularized by Amazon retail stores.
These devices would represent a significant advance in the area of grocery delivery, which is a market sector that has remained largely unexplored in the U.S. in recent years.
The carts will drive to a customer’s location. The customer can then unlock the large sliding doors on the side of the cart and remove the items they want.
As in cashierless retail stores, RFID tech is used to determine which items have been removed and how many of each remain in the cart.
