Customers buy produce at Whole Foods Market 365 in Santa Monica, California.
Patrick T. Fallon Bloomberg | Getty Images
as Amazon The retail giant wants to add more automation to its supermarkets and is working with a startup backed by Khosla Ventures that came to prominence last year, according to CNBC.
Last week, Amazon announced it was piloting a new concept at a Whole Foods store in suburban Philadelphia that would install a micro-fulfillment center that would allow shoppers to purchase staples not typically stocked by organic grocery stores.
The facility relies on warehouse automation technology from Fulfil, a San Francisco-based startup that develops robotic systems for grocers and other retailers, according to a person familiar with the matter and other confirmed information. The person asked not to be named because the plan is confidential.
At a recent press conference near an Amazon warehouse in Nashville, Anand Varadarajan, who leads Amazon’s product and technology teams for its global grocery business, said: Showed a video Demo use Forfield’s technology. In the film, the robot can be seen pulling trays of soy sauce, canned pineapples and coffee packets from shelves before handing them over to other robots equipped with shopping bags.
Fulfil’s technology isn’t mentioned in the video, but the system looks identical to the demo video on Fulfil’s website.
Amazon declined to comment on whether it uses Fulfil’s technology. The company said it invests in a variety of technologies and robotics, including those developed internally and by third-party partners, to improve its operating network. Fulfill Chief Executive Mir Aamir declined to comment.
information Amazon’s testing of Fulfil technology was reported earlier.
accomplish Appear from invisibility In February 2023, the company announced it had raised $60 million in a funding round led by Eclipse Ventures with participation from Khosla Ventures and DCVC. Before partnering with Amazon, the company was testing its technology with California-based retailer Lucky, part of regional grocer Save Mart and a Amazon Grocery Delivery Partners.
latest Job vacancy announcement According to information on Fulfil’s website, the company is recruiting engineers and factory operators in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, the site of a Whole Foods store where Amazon is trialling its technology. Tony Hoggett, Amazon’s head of global grocery, said Amazon expects the facility to be operational next year. Said in a blog post last week.
Fulfil’s technology will enable shoppers to purchase staples from brands not stocked by Whole Foods, which has long maintained “No list” Hundreds of ingredients are banned from all food it sells. That means shoppers buying items like Coca-Cola and Kellogg’s cereal won’t be able to find them on the shelves of Whole Foods Market, which Amazon acquired for $13.7 billion in 2017.
The system, being piloted at the Plymouth Convention Center, will allow shoppers to order items from Amazon.com and its online grocery service, Amazon Fresh, while browsing Whole Foods. They can pick up their online purchases in the store during checkout.
A small automated warehouse will be anchored in a Whole Foods store, where robots will pick up and deliver items such as socks, soda bottles or tennis rackets and place them into bags for pickup.
Amazon is looking to “eliminate extra trips to other grocery stores for shoppers,” Hoggart wrote in a blog post. Statistically, Americans shop at an average of two different grocery stores each week, whether to maximize savings, buy a wider range of products, or take advantage of different promotions A study from April From market research company Drive Research.
Sales growth at Amazon’s brick-and-mortar divisions, which includes Whole Foods and Fresh Market, have languished in single digits for the past seven quarters.
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