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, and documents as well as other products. These robots are small in size and are typically equipped with cameras, LiDAR, or 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.
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.
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, a study revealed that between April 2018 and November 2021, around 280,000 car journeys were avoided using delivery robots, which saved 137 tonnes of CO2 and 22kg of Nox from being emitted.
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. They can operate in a relatively complex environment and are more compatible with motorised vehicles and pedestrian traffic when compared to robots on sidewalks.
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 re-orienting the program. It then discusses how e-commerce firms adopting last-mile delivery robots will play a crucial role in their adoption in the future.
As the name implies, this section charts some examples of relevant IoT deployments in this application. For instance, Woowa Brothers deploys self-driving delivery robots in Korea using SK Telecom’s 5G network. These robots, known as “Dilly Drive”, address consumer demand for short-distance deliveries of food, using the Baemin application. The pilot phase involved fulfilling more than 3,000 orders and logging 1,250 km on the Konkuk University’s campus in Seoul, after which the delivery service was made public.
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, Refraction AI, 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 21,000 in 2024 to 2.1 million in 2034.
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 60%.
