Robomart, a company building a platform for self-driving retail storefronts, has announced a new organization called the Autonomous Retail Collective, a group aimed at accelerating the development of self-driving shops.
The group is a mix of Robomart’s partners, including Whale Dynamic, specializing in autonomous driving systems; Avery Dennison, a supplier of RFID technology; Zeeba, which offers fleet management services; and PIX Moving, a manufacturer of custom autonomous vehicles.
Sure, the organization is self-serving for Robomart, but that doesn’t make it a bad idea. The very concept of autonomous retail storefronts is still nascent, and Robomart has been pretty much the only company banging the drum for this concept since they debuted at CES in 2019. While the company has slowly been announcing partners over the past couple of years, including its recent announcement with PIX Moving (a company building the Robomart second-generation – and first autonomous – retail storefront), something akin to an industry alliance like this collective turns what is a loose grouping of companies into a turnkey solution for companies looking to expand into autonomous retail.
“ARC members are our suppliers and infrastructure partners that are committing to the development and advancement of self-driving shops,” Robomart founder Ali Ahmed told The Spoon. “Instead of just one startup building the category, we established the collective to demonstrate the entire ecosystem of players building around this new retail channel.”
For its part, Robomart plans to roll out its PIX-powered vehicles starting in 2025. The company plans to integrate the new autonomous platforms with the current Robomart fleets, which are retrofitted sprinter vans manned by a driver.
