In the Corporate Village in Zaventem near Brussels, the office zone where the Belgian headquarters is located, Carrefour is deploying a self-driving robot to deliver small online orders.
Within 15 minutes
Carrefour Belgium is the first in Europe to test delivery by a robot from Delivers.ai. The tests are taking place in the Corporate Village in Zaventem, where some 9,000 people work, and will last until the end of spring.
Employees will be able to place orders from next week: they can choose from the 500 items available in the Carrefour shop in the office park. They will find a tailor-made range for the location: freshly cut fruit and coffee cakes for breakfast, salads, healthy ready meals and daily fresh sandwiches prepared on site in a workshop, through to salted or sweet afternoon snacks.
Revolution for small and medium-sized towns
If this first test succeeds, a test in a hyper-centre will follow. Carrefour initially plans to deploy the service in large cities such as Antwerp, Brussels, Ghent and Liège. The robot will also revolutionise small and medium-sized cities not currently served by home delivery, according to the retailer.
If the tests turn out successful, the fully autonomous robot will be able to deliver groceries at home from shops within 15 minutes. Carrefour thus aims to expand its offer to new areas to make home delivery faster and more accessible across Belgium.
The Delivers.ai robot is equipped with eight cameras and sensors that have pre-mapped the area of movement. As a result, the robot moves safely and avoids obstacles. It is highly visible thanks to several indicator lights.
