Technology

Domino's, Nuro launch autonomous pizza delivery with on-road robot

A Michigan store today will start sending out orders via pizza delivery robot.

Beginning this week select customers who place a prepaid order on dominos.com on certain days and times from Domino’s, located at 3209 Houston Ave. in Houston, can choose to have their pizza delivered by Nuro’s R2 robot. (Photo provided)

April 12, 2021

Domino's and self-driving delivery company Nuro are launching autonomous pizza delivery in Houston this week. That's when select customers who place a prepaid order on dominos.com on certain days and times from the Houston Avenue Domino's in Woodland Heights, Michigan can choose to have pizza delivered by Nuro's R2 robot, a news release said. Nuro's R2 is the first completely autonomous, occupant-less on-road delivery vehicle with regulatory approval by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The system works by having select customers who place a prepaid website order from the participating store opt to have their order delivered by R2. Customers who are selected will receive text alerts, which will update them on R2's location and provide a unique PIN to retrieve their order. Customers may also track the vehicle via GPS on their order confirmation page.

Once R2 arrives, customers will be prompted to enter their PIN on the robot's touchscreen. R2's doors will then open upward, revealing the order.

"We're excited to continue innovating the delivery experience for Domino's customers by testing autonomous delivery with Nuro in Houston," Dennis Maloney, Domino's senior vice president and chief innovation officer, said in the release. "There is still so much for our brand to learn about the autonomous delivery space. This program will allow us to better understand how customers respond to the deliveries, how they interact with the robot and how it affects store operations.

"The growing demand for great-tasting pizza creates the need for more deliveries, and we look forward to seeing how autonomous delivery can work along with Domino's existing delivery experts to better support the customers' needs."

Domino's has more than 17,600 stores in over 90 markets. The company did not divulge what its future plans with the Nuro robots may include or whether additional stores will soon be offering the service.