Shake Shack is rolling out sidewalk robot delivery for the first time in partnership with Serve Robotics and Uber Eats. Customers in Los Angeles that order their Shake Shack burgers via Uber Eats very well might have their food delivered by an autonomous robot.
While this might be the first time Serve Robotics’ sidewalk delivery robots will be working with Shake Shack, it’s not the burger chain’s first foray into autonomous delivery solutions. Last November, NRN reported that Shake Shack was partnering with Motional to use the company’s Ioniq 5 robotaxi to shuttle delivery orders around in Las Vegas, also in partnership with Uber. While sidewalk robots can handle short-range deliveries, autonomous vehicles like the robotaxi can take on longer delivery ranges.
"We love working with Uber and Serve Robotics on this partnership and lean into their expertise to help further our commitment to leveraging innovation to enhance guest experiences," Steph So, senior vice president of digital experience at Shake Shack, told Nation's Restaurant News. "We see autonomous delivery continuing to grow in popularity and we want to meet our customers where they are while maintaining our enlightened hospitality and premium ingredients."
So added that in early pilots of robotic technology in Miami, Shake Shack has seen shorter delivery times, increased capacity, and overall improved guest experiences. Right now, Shake Shack is still in early stages of testing, but So said that autonomous delivery could become a part of Shake Shack's permanent strategy.
"Guests receiving deliveries are delighted and guests in-Shack benefit from less congestion of couriers in and out of the restaurant at peak times," she said.
Uber Eats has also been a supporter of Serve Robotics for several years, and currently owns approximately a 16% stake in the company. Since Serve went public last year, the company has been working on expanding both to new territories and to new operator partners. Last summer, Uber and Serve’s partnership expanded the test in the Los Angeles, with the goal of growing to a fleet of 2,000 delivery robots by 2025 across the country.
“We are excited to add another national merchant like Shake Shack to our platform, a partnership made possible through the relationship we have built with Uber Eats across tens of thousands of successful deliveries,” Touraj Parang, President and COO of Serve Robotics, said in a statement. “This announcement highlights the value of Serve’s world-class strategic partnerships as we work to expand our geographic footprint.”
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