On kylmä! The first robotic parcel lockers that allow cold storage have been launched in Finland. The service provides customers with a safe place to store and pick up groceries ordered online at any time of the day and is the creation of three companies from Finland: online delivery platform Smartmile, lifting equipment company Konecranes and retail chain K Group.
“The new kind of parcel machine combines room and cold temperature storage and are located outside for 24/7 access.”
– Smartmile
According to Edge by Ascential’s Trends for 2020 Omnichannel shopping will continue to rise and grocery will be one of the main contenders in this growth through its huge potential. With the potential for online grocery shopping to take off and the success of Amazon fresh in the US anything that aids the logistics of the process is a great plus. In fact, the development of such technology before any rapid growth of grocery takes place will avoid certain issues arising such as mouldy veg left on doorsteps.
“We wanted to revolutionize customer experience by making daily shopping as easy and convenient as possible. Together with our partners we created a solution that combines daily grocery shopping and picking up online orders. This saves the customers’ time and makes everyday life easier”
– Aku Happo, CEO, Smartmile
“We regard automating online grocery shopping as an attractive and constantly growing sector. We would like to thank K Group, retailers and Smartmile for their seamless cooperation, resulting in a completely new automated parcel machine that combines room-temperature and refrigerated compartments,”
– Tapani Tilus, vice president and head, Konecranes.
The parcel lockers feature both normal storage and cold storage at refrigerator temperature. Groceries are stored in the refrigerated compartments and frozen goods have special packaging to stall the thawing process. The machines even work to meet accessibility requirements, rather than keeping groceries in separate doors as seen on Amazon lockers, the robot working inside the machine delivers everything to the same easy to access pick-up point on the machine.
