Finland’s S Group plans to expand its robot delivery service to more than 100 stores by the end of this year.
S Group has already delivered over 150,000 orders in Finland through this service, in association with Starship Technologies’ self-driving electric robots.
The company commenced a pilot project in the Helsinki metropolitan area in 2022 and expanded the service to almost 50 stores across Finland within a year.
Over the past year, the most popular products delivered by robots were milk, bananas, minced meat, energy drinks, chicken fillets, rice cakes, sour cream, cucumber, iceberg lettuce, and miniature plum tomatoes.
The robots deliver basic groceries all over the country, so the top ten items on their shopping lists are very similar in most cities, the company noted.
'Making Everyday Life Easier'
Tiina Meyer, business developer at S Group Retail, commented, “The robots make everyday life easier for customers. They quickly deliver supplies to their homes when the fridge runs out of milk in the evening or they need bananas for a snack the next day.
“Robots are used to order the same products that are bought in the grocery store. Of course, deli products for weekend evenings and lunches are also ordered, and in the summer, for example, ice cream.”
Consumer Trends
S Group highlighted that people of all ages and living situations, including families and single-person households, order their groceries from the S-kaupat app and avail of robot delivery.
However, families with young children, young adults living alone, and people aged 25-44 are the most likely to use this service, it added.
Also, many shoppers use the service over the weekend, with Saturday emerging as the most popular day for ordering, and most orders being placed in the evening.
Robot Deliveries
S Group currently offers deliveries in 15 cities: Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Lohja, Karkkila, Somero, Salo, Tampere, Turku, Liedo, Pori, Rauma, Jyväskylä, Kuopio and Oulu.
The robots deliver mostly from Aleppo and Sale stores, as well as from some S-markets.
The S-kaupat app has been downloaded an estimated 20,000 times per month over the past year, thanks to the service.
“The feedback from customers has been overwhelmingly good – especially the music played by the robots when the customer picks up their shopping, the speed of delivery, and quite a few people commenting on how cute the robots are,” added Meyer.
