Wednesday, April 10, 2013

How Robots and Military-Grade Algorithms Make Same-Day Delivery Possible



more comments to follow:

Key themes:
  • Store to door
  • Predictive stocking
  • 7-11 lockers
  • Man+ machine integration in picking right items and humans figuring out quality
  • City as a warehouse (how ebay has participants from Walgreens to radioshack to THD)
  • Couriers (with mobile app tracking)
Forget next-day delivery. The standard in online shopping is rapidly approaching next-hour delivery. Retail giants Walmart, Amazon, and eBay, and a few nimble startups, are testing same-day services, bringing whatever you desire—ice cream, toothpaste, a new TV—to your door, right now. To make it happen, the sellers are revving up supply chains that rely on algorithms of military-grade complexity and workers (human and robot) who roam vast distribution centers 24/7. The trillion-dollar online shopping economy is about to get bigger—and a lot faster.

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