Uber Eats, a major delivery service, has announced that it will introduce autonomous robots to some areas in Tokyo from the 6th.
In Japan, there are a number of companies withdrawing their services due to factors such as a shortage of delivery personnel, and companies are rushing to streamline their operations and strengthen their services.
Uber Eats unveiled on the 5th a small autonomous robot with six wheels that will be introduced at two stores in the Nihonbashi area of Tokyo from the 6th.
This is the second country in the world to introduce it, following the United States.
The service will begin with people placing an order going to the entrance of the building to pick it up, and plans to expand to other areas in the future.
The hope is that the robots will be able to respond even when there are fewer delivery workers, such as on rainy days, which will lead to enhanced convenience such as speed of delivery.
Alvin Wu, director of market operations at Uber Eats Japan, said, ``Robots will become increasingly important as a complement to labor shortages such as the 2024 problem.''
Regarding home delivery services, Germany's Foodpanda and China's DiDi Food are withdrawing from Japan due to a shortage of delivery personnel and a large number of competitors.
Under these circumstances, companies are rushing to improve the efficiency of their operations and strengthen their services, such as Demae-kan, which introduced robots last summer that move autonomously by getting in and out of elevators inside buildings.