Domino’s Pizza operates driverless delivery with Nuro in Houston

Domino’s Nuro autonomous van

Source: Domino’s

Domino’s Pizza’s newest delivery guy isn’t a person – it’s a self-driving car.

The restaurant company said Monday that a Nuro self-driving car will deliver pizza to Houston this week as part of a pilot program.

Customers must place a prepaid order on Domino’s website for delivery from the chain’s Woodland Heights location. If their order is within certain days and times, they can choose to have Nuro’s R2 robot deliver their pizza. Once the robot arrives, customers enter a unique PIN on the touchscreen to open the doors to collect their pizza.

A Domino spokeswoman said the company has not yet set an end date for the pilot program.

The R2 robot is the first fully autonomous road passenger van to receive approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Founded by two former members of Google’s self-driving car team, Nuro raised $ 500 million in the latest round of funding, including an investment from Chipotle Mexican Grill.

Domino’s has invested in technology over the past decade to make ordering and receiving pizza faster and easier, helping to lure customers away from independent pizzerias and other chains, such as Papa John’s. Driverless pizza delivery is a recent area of ​​focus, although the company is still years – or even decades – away from replacing its entire fleet.

In 2019, the company announced its partnership with Nuro. Two years earlier, it examined how consumers would respond to pizza delivery from a Ford self-driving car.

Domino’s stock is up 13% in the past year, putting it at a market value of $ 15.2 billion. The company has capitalized on consumer desire to deliver during the coronavirus pandemic, but analysts are worried about pizza fatigue in the coming months.

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