Arkansas passed legislation earlier this year that allows the operation of autonomous vehicles in the state, and Walmart is taking advantage.
“With the help of Gatik, we’re making sure we stay on the cutting edge of grocery pickup by testing an autonomous vehicle to move customer orders on a two-mile route in Bentonville between two of our stores,” Tom Ward, senior vice president of digital operations for Walmart U.S., said in a news release. “We aim to learn more about the logistics of adding autonomous vehicles into our online grocery ecosystem, operation process changes and more opportunities to incorporate this emerging technology.”
Earlier this year, Walmart announced a partnership to test grocery delivery via autonomous vehicle in Surprise, Ariz., with Udelv.
In November 2018, Walmart discussed a partnership with Ford to pilot grocery delivery with self-driving cars in the Miami area.
Kroger and H-E-B are among other retailers testing similar technology.
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