Shopper self-retrieving their online grocery order from BrightDrop’s Trace Grocery. Pre-production Trace Grocery shown with after-market decals applied. Actual production unit may vary.
A year after unveiling Trace Grocery, BrightDrop’s temperature-managed eCart for optimized grocery fulfillment and curbside pickup, the business from GM is adding a brand new feature: self-dispense.
Self-dispense gives shoppers the ability to retrieve their online grocery orders directly from secure compartments at a store’s curb without store associate assistance. This can reduce wait times for customers and create efficiencies for grocers by allowing store associates to primarily focus on the in-store fulfillment process. Grocers can spend up to 16% 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.
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.
This is BrightDrop’s latest move to innovate the fast-growing grocery segment. 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.
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.
It’s that simple!
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% 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 today with deliveries of units expected to begin in early 2024. This new generation of Trace Grocery enables us to provide our grocery customers with flexible options to better serve their shoppers.
Self-dispense can enable a 34% reduction in time to serve online orders** by removing staging and de-staging steps, as well as decreased customer pickup wait times.
*Information provided is based on results from time studies captured by a leading grocer. Results may vary based on individual processes and workflows.
**Results based on an initial pilot study. Actual results may vary.