The Walmart Alphabot program follows Kroger’s partnership with UK-based online supermarket Ocado, which has robots that can pack a 50-item grocery order in a matter of minutes. And Boxed, a NJ-based online retailer, uses Opex’s Perfect Pick system.

Walmart announced earlier this year that it will expand its online grocery delivery service to more than 40 percent of U.S. households by the end of 2018. But that comes with an added cost, of course, so the Walmart Alphabot is looking to make it more efficient for the company to fulfill the online orders from customers who don’t want to pay for delivery.

“Our online grocery service is already a huge hit with customers, allowing them to quickly and conveniently order groceries online, select a pickup time and have those groceries delivered to their car in minutes,” Mark Ibbotson, Executive Vice President of Central Operations, Walmart U.S. says, “Alphabot will work behind the scenes to make the process even easier by automatically bringing items from storage to associates who will consolidate the items in the order. For our pickup associates, that means less time walking the store aisles in search of products and more time ensuring customers are getting the absolute best in fresh produce, meats, etc.”

Thanks to Walmart Alphabot, the company says its employees will have more time to focus on service and selling, which are the “two things they often tell us are the most enjoyable part of the job, while the technology handles the more mundane, repeatable tasks.”

Source : The Robot Report