Convenience store chain 7-Eleven is piloting autonomous delivery in Mountain View, California, with local robotics company Nuro.

The autonomous commercial delivery service will let customers order through the 7Now delivery app to have their products delivered by robot.

“7-Eleven has owned and defined convenience since 1927,” said Raghu Mahadevan, 7-Eleven chief digital officer. “Our first foray into autonomous delivery was in 2016 when 7-Eleven became the first retailer in the USA to make a drone delivery to a customer’s house. Since then, we haven’t stopped looking for ways to redefine convenience for our customers inside and outside the four walls of our stores. Fast forward to 2021, and we are pushing the boundaries of innovation even further to provide customers with the first commercial autonomous delivery service in California. I can’t wait to see where we go from here.”

Shoppers will start by downloading the 7Now delivery app through Google Play, Apple App Store or from the 7Now web site. They can browse the app to purchase items such as pizza, chips, beverages and household goods. Once items are added to the shopping cart, they begin the checkout process and choose autonomous delivery.

Autonomous vehicle deliveries are available daily from 8am to 9pm at no additional charge for customers in Mountain View. The app will send updates as the order is processed, and orders will arrive in approximately thirty minutes.

The shoppers must meet the autonomous vehicle outside to grab their items from the back of the vehicle.

Nuro will begin this delivery service with its autonomous Priuses and later introduce R2 bots, the company’s autonomous robots that are custom-built to transport products and goods without any occupants in the vehicle. Nuro became the first autonomous vehicle company to receive a deployment permit from the California DMV in December 2020.

“Residents in the state of California – a major hub of innovation – have never been able to experience the commercial delivery of goods by an autonomous vehicle,” said Jiajun Zhu, Nuro CEO. “Nuro is teaming up with 7-Eleven to change that. We’ve always wanted to bring Nuro’s autonomous delivery to our local community and to our neighbours. We couldn’t be more excited to do this with an iconic neighbourhood store like 7-Eleven in our hometown, Mountain View.”

Introduced in late 2017, 7Now Delivery is available throughout the USA and offers real-time tracking that lets customers know when to expect their orders, typically in thirty minutes.

Nuro has brought autonomous delivery to local communities in Texas, Arizona and California.