Story at a glance
- The companies announced Monday a pilot program to deliver pizzas via Nuro’s autonomous delivery vehicle will begin in the Houston area this week.
- Select customers placing a prepaid order through Domino’s website for delivery from the chain’s Woodland Heights location can choose to have Nuro’s R2 robot drop off their pizza.
- “There is still so much for our brand to learn about the autonomous delivery space,” Dennis Maloney, Domino’s senior vice president and chief innovation officer, said.
Domino’s this week is kicking off autonomous pizza delivery in the Houston area.
The pizza chain has partnered with self-driving delivery startup Nuro on a pilot program to start delivering pizzas via Nuro’s R2 robot, the first completely autonomous on-road delivery vehicle to receive regulatory approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation.
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Select customers placing a prepaid order through Domino’s website for delivery from the chain’s Woodland Heights location can choose to have Nuro’s R2 robot drop off their pie.
Customers will then receive text alerts updating on R2’s location and provide them a pin number to retrieve their order. Once the robot arrives, customers enter their pin on the vehicle’s touchscreen and the doors open with the order.
“There is still so much for our brand to learn about the autonomous delivery space,” Dennis Maloney, Domino’s senior vice president and chief innovation officer, said.
“This program will allow us to better understand how customers respond to the deliveries, how they interact with the robot and how it affects store operations.”
Domino’s and Nuro first announced their partnership in 2019. The California-based startup has also partnered with Walmart, CVS, Kroger and Chipotle. The company is already using its R2 robots for grocery deliveries and deliveries from CVS Pharmacy stores in Houston.
“Nuro’s mission is to better everyday life through robotics. Now, for the first time, we’re launching real world, autonomous deliveries with R2 and Domino’s,” Dave Ferguson, Nuro co-founder and president, said.
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