Seven Eleven Expands Delivery Robot Testing... "Free Delivery During Pilot Operation Period"

Utilization of Multiple Robots Across Numerous Stores

A staff member at the convenience store 7-Eleven is loading items onto the autonomous delivery robot 'Newbee'.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Seven Eleven announced on the 28th that it will begin the second phase of a demonstration project to realize a stable robot delivery service centered around the Bangbae-dong area in Seoul, in collaboration with Newbility.

As participants in a government-led demonstration project, the two companies have been strengthening their partnership to establish an urban convenience store robot delivery service model using outdoor autonomous driving robots. Previously, in November last year, they conducted the first test operation using the autonomous delivery robot "Newbee" at the Seocho I-Park store.

The second phase demonstration project aims to stably operate an advanced delivery service model utilizing multiple robots across multiple stores, beyond the previous tests of one store with one robot and one store with multiple robots. To this end, Seven Eleven selected three stores located in Bangbae-dong, Seoul (Bangbae Store, Bangbae Station Store, Bangbae Seoripul Store) and will test a multi-store, multi-robot short-distance delivery service using three Newbee delivery robots.

Customers can use the robot delivery service through the Seven Eleven mobile application (app) and general delivery apps. The service target area covers the entire Bangbae 1-dong, with an operating radius of 800 meters. The test period is three months until the end of this year, and delivery fees will be free during the pilot operation period.

A Seven Eleven official said, "As short-distance delivery is gradually becoming a representative service of convenience stores, expectations for a robot delivery service that can be jointly used by multiple convenience store locations are high," adding, "We will continue to innovate to secure the next-generation delivery service market and enhance franchise store operational convenience and profit growth through digital technology."