This report provides Transforma Insights’ view on the Delivery Robot market. This segment comprises autonomous delivery robots used on sidewalks and paths, that deliver retail products, food items, documents, as well as other products. These robots are small in size and are typically equipped with cameras, LiDAR, ultrasonic sensors for detecting obstacles, GPS navigation for routing, along with a variety of other sensors, measurement units, and gyroscopes. Most of these robots use cellular communication (usually 4G and 5G) technology to transmit real-time information and videos.
Mostly concentrated in developed regions such as North America and Europe, the market for delivery robots is typically triggered by the increasing need and demand for faster and more sustainable delivery services. Some countries, such as Japan and South Korea, are coming up with new laws to encourage adoption and help address labour shortage issues. This report also considers how these devices can create congestion on sidewalks and face stiff competition from drones. Some key organisations such as Amazon, Alibaba, and Uber have reflected on the cost and benefits of using robots for last-mile deliveries and many of them have reduced their research spending after not meeting the required economies of scale. Yet the market for autonomous delivery robots continues to grow with rising popularity among tech-savvy consumers and improved technology.
A full set of forecast data, including country-level forecasts, sector breakdowns and public/private network splits, is available through the IoT Forecast tool.
This section first claims that the increasing demand for e-commerce services may prove to be a compelling potential for delivery robots. It further argues that COVID-19 also increased the demand for online delivery, which in turn, has forced retailers to look for more sustainable and scalable delivery alternatives, as in a day, it is impossible for a human to deliver beyond a certain number of orders across various locations. Besides, consumers are also increasingly expecting purchases to be delivered quickly, further expanding the scope for delivery robots.
The report examines key factors that are influencing the development of the market, including:
This section first explains, how, in terms of technology, delivery robots are similar to autonomous road vehicles (like both using GNSS and computer vision to navigate detailed stored maps. It then charts the features of their onboard systems, the benefits of those features (like avoiding collisions), and explains how these delivery robots work. It also describes briefly the communication technology these robots use – like Cellular technologies (typically 4G and 5G) for real-time communication.
It further adds that newer robot generations (like Vayu Robotics’ latest generation of delivery robots) have increased speed, raised load-carrying capacity, improved on-board computing power, greater weather resistance, and more advanced hazard detection. It also claims that delivery robots generate new revenue through targeted advertising partnerships. Operating in high-footfall areas, they collect data that helps businesses optimise campaigns. One example is a collaboration between Coco Robotics, Prime Video, and Omnicom Media Group to promote a movie called ‘The Pickup’, using branded autonomous delivery robots that played lines from the film.
This section of the report talks about how delivery robots can reduce both emissions and transportation costs and address related issues like urban congestion. For instance, an internal study by Starship Technologies in June 2024 claimed that its operations had reduced carbon emissions by more than 320 tonnes since 2018 and could prevent a further 46,000 tonnes by 2030.
It then explains how last-mile delivery robots should be fairly cost-efficient, compared to other delivery options once they reach maturity, although the initial investment can be high. For instance, as per Starship Technologies, an individual robot’s cost (which was USD5,500 in 2018) should eventually reduce to USD2,250.
This section expounds upon how people are gradually starting to accept delivery robots, despite showing some resistance towards them at the beginning. It also discusses the reasons that are further likely to increase their acceptance, including increased delivery speed and decreased delivery prices.
This section lists some of the drawbacks of delivery robots, like requiring regular recharging and continuous connectivity, and being subject to vandalism and theft issues. It then explains how their adoption can also be hampered by reasons including the availability of alternative solutions (like drones) and autonomous freight vehicles for on-road deliveries. Case in point, Domino’s and Kroger have collaborated with Nuro to deploy its R2 robot, an autonomous, occupant-less on-road delivery vehicle. These robots are slightly smaller in size, have higher load-carrying capacity, and can move faster on the road.
It further discusses the highly unregulated market for delivery robots and charts the existing regulations across countries, like the US, Estonia, Japan, and South Korea. Case in point, in April 2023, Japan’s revised Road Traffic Act came into force, permitting fully autonomous delivery robots operating at speeds of up to 4mph. The measure aims to support elderly residents in remote areas and address the country’s persistent labour shortage.
This section of the report explains how many organisations have reduced their research spending after failing to meet the required economies of scale. For instance, in November 2022, Amazon shut down the field testing of its delivery robots and is currently reorienting the program.
It also adds that delivery robot vendors have also struggled to scale their operations, which has forced them to settle for alternative business models. For instance, Starship had planned to deploy 5,000 robots on US university campuses by 2021 but had only 2,000 robots worldwide in 2023. Therefore, it partnered with Nickelytics to run advertising campaigns at the University of Utah and UCLA. It also discusses how e-commerce firms adopting last-mile delivery robots will play a crucial role in their adoption in the future, and adds that the market for delivery robots is still underdeveloped and although some companies are fairly bullish about their use in future, other solutions (like drones) may become more successful.
As the name implies, this section charts some examples of relevant IoT deployments in this application. For instance, in partnership
with Cartken and Mitsubishi Electric, Uber Eats has deployed sidewalk delivery robots in Tokyo, Japan.
The key vendors section lists some of the main providers of products and services related to the delivery robot market, such as Starship Technologies, Kiwibot, Coco Robotics, HelloWorld Robotics, Serve Robotics, and JD.com. The report provides profiles of the various vendors, including aspects most relevant to this Application Group, such as product offerings, pricing, financial results, and technology.
In the market forecasts section, we provide a summary of the forecasts from the Transforma Insights IoT Forecast Database:
The report charts the growth in the number of delivery robots, which will grow from 28,000 in 2025 to 559,000 in 2035.
Transforma Insights forecasts are compiled on a country-by-country basis. This report includes a regional summary, showing splits between Australasia, Greater China, North America, Europe, Japan, Latin America, MENA, Russia & Central Asia, South East Asia, South Korea, India & South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Transforma Insights’ IoT forecasts include splits between the various connectivity technologies as follows: 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G mMTC, 5G non-mMTC, LPWA (non-mMTC), Satellite, Short Range, and Other.
This section discusses which technologies will be used in the delivery robots application group.
This part of the report discusses the market growth in terms of revenue (module revenue, service wrap revenue, and VAC revenue). Transforma Insights estimates that the revenue in the Delivery Robots Application Group will grow at a CAGR of 35%.
