As Amazon As the corporate looks to automate its supermarkets much more, the retail giant is partnering with a Khosla Ventures-backed startup that just emerged from stealth last yr, CNBC has learned.
Last week, Amazon announced that it was testing a brand new concept at one among its Whole Foods locations in suburban Philadelphia that may attach a micro-fulfillment center to the shop, allowing shoppers to buy staples that not normally available from organic grocers.
The facility relies on warehouse automation technology from Fulfil, a San Francisco-based startup that develops robotic systems for grocers and other retailers, in response to an individual conversant in the matter and other corroborating information. The person didn’t need to be identified since the plan is confidential.
At a recent press event near an Amazon warehouse in Nashville, Anand Varadarajan, who leads the product and technology teams for Amazon's global grocery business, said: a video shown Demonstration of using Fulfil’s technology. In the video, robots could be seen pulling trays of soy sauce, canned pineapples and low pods off the shelves after which passing them to other robots with shopping bags.
The video doesn’t mention Fulfil's technology, however the system appears to be an identical to the content of a demo video on Fulfil's website.
Amazon declined to comment on whether it uses Fulfil's technology. The company said it’s investing in a wide range of technologies and robotics, including those developed internally and by third-party partners, to enhance its operational networks. Fulfill CEO Mir Aamir declined to comment.
The information previously reported that Amazon was testing Fulfil's technology.
Fulfill emerged from stealth in February 2023 and announced on the time that it had raised $60 million in a round led by Eclipse Ventures with participation from Khosla Ventures and DCVC. Before working with Amazon, the corporate tested its technology with California-based retailer Lucky, which is owned and operated by regional grocer Save Mart Amazon grocery delivery partners.
Youngest Job advertisements Fulfil's website notes that the corporate is hiring engineers and factory operators in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, the location of the Whole Foods store where Amazon is testing its technology. Amazon expects the ability to be operational next yr, said Tony Hoggett, who leads Amazon's global grocery business. said in a blog post last week.
Fulfil's technology will allow shoppers to buy staples from brands not available at Whole Foods, which has long operated an assortment “No list” created from a whole lot of ingredients which might be banned in all foods sold. That means shoppers on the lookout for items like Coca Cola and Kellogg's cereal can't find them on the shelves of Whole Foods, which Amazon acquired in 2017 for $13.7 billion.
The system being tested in Plymouth Meeting allows shoppers to order items from Amazon's website and its online grocery service Amazon Fresh while concurrently browsing at Whole Foods. You can pick up items purchased online in store during checkout.
A small automated warehouse can be attached to a Whole Foods store, where robots would pick up items like socks, soda bottles or tennis rackets, transport them and put them in bags for pickup.
Hoggett wrote within the blog post that Amazon is attempting to “eliminate the extra trips” shoppers make to other grocery stores. The average American shops at two different grocery stores per week, whether to maximise cost savings, purchase from a wider range of products or benefit from various promotions, it said an April study from the market research company Drive Research.
Sales growth at Amazon's physical stores, which include Whole Foods and Fresh, has been in the one digits over the past seven quarters.
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