A year after unveiling Trace Grocery, the temperature-managed eCart for optimized grocery fulfillment and curbside pickup from the General Motors Co. subsidiary BrightDrop, it’s adding a new feature: self-dispense.
Self-dispense is designed to give shoppers the ability to retrieve their online grocery orders directly from secure compartments at a store’s curb without store associate assistance. This is expected to reduce wait times for customers and allow store associates to primarily focus on the in-store fulfillment process.
Grocers can spend up to 16 percent of the order fulfillment time on manually dispensing customer orders. Self-dispense can eliminate the need for this step entirely, saving grocers time and allowing them to fulfill more orders, faster.
According to company officials, it’s a “game-changer” for on-the-go consumers who are increasingly looking for both convenience and autonomy, and a simplifier for grocers who are searching for ways to streamline processes and keep up with the growing demand for click-and-collect.
Online grocery is expected to reach $240 billion by 2025, and more than double that in the next decade. This is a huge market opportunity and key growth driver for BrightDrop, the company says.
Here’s how it works:
Step 1 – Pick & Pack: Once an online order has been placed with the grocer, a store associate picks and packs groceries straight into the Trace Grocery compartments, sorting by temperature.
Step 2 – Move: When picking and packing is complete, a store associate moves the unit to a convenient curbside location for customer pickup.
Step 3 – Serve: The shopper has the option to use their smartphone to unlock specific compartments and dispense their groceries without waiting on support from an associate.
Benefits for grocers, and their shoppers:
Easy and Flexible: An easy-to-activate solution that’s scalable to meet the needs of grocers without having to install costly refrigeration or stationary lockers.
Efficient: Self-dispense can enable a 34 percent reduction in time to serve online orders by removing staging and de-staging steps, as well as decreased customer pickup wait times.
Employee Satisfaction: Equipped with battery propulsion that matches walking speeds of up to 3 mph, Trace Grocery helps to reduce physical strain of store associates as they fulfill orders.
Customer Satisfaction: Empowers shoppers with choice and autonomy for retrieving their online orders.
Trace Grocery equipped with self-dispense is available to order with deliveries of units expected to begin in early next year.
