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With retailers continually looking at how to improve their service to customers and at the same time reduce their costs, it was no surprise that robotics would soon be involved and most noticeably, the use of drones.
Much has been said in the media about drones and their potential uses, from filming to mapping the landscape and in particular, for the delivery of shopping. With Amazon leading the way in “piloting” their use for delivering orders, the big question is will there be enough demand for this type of service?
In the UK, a number of major retailers, led by Amazon, have been exploring the potential of drones and how this might benefit their customers from lowering cost, to speeding up delivery times. However, a recent article by shopping website Give as you Live, suggests that not everyone is ready to accept this next step in the drive to provide personalised deliveries. Their survey suggests that over a third of people would be cautious about their use, citing security, safety and accuracy of deliveries as reasons for these concerns.
There is also the small issue of the size, how much can a drone carry. Domino’s Pizza clearly think that they can carry quite a bit as highlighted by the Daily Mail. Developing their own drone to deliver Pizza, this is one application that we think might have value, bringing a new meaning to the phrase “Fast Food”.
However, the key question will be how quickly will people accept this new technology? On the whole, change of this type takes time and with some of the safety concerns now receiving negative press, we think the use of drones will take a long time to fully establish itself and even then, will not have a massive impact on the shopping behaviour of customers in the UK.
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