What's Inside

We discuss recent developments in the adoption of contactless technologies in grocery retail and by food-service businesses, as they adapt to demand for touch-free shopping in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis.

The new initiatives we present in this report include the following highlights:

• In-store grocery checkout—a new, automated shopping cart from Amazon and an open-plan self-checkout area in a Walmart supercenter
• Drone delivery services—from Rouses Market, in partnership with Deuce Drone
• Food-service solutions—a burger-flipping robotic chef from White Castle and Miso Robotics, and a touch-free beverage dispenser from Coca-Cola

We discuss the implications around the adoption of contact-light technologies in grocery and food service for brands and retailers, as well as for technology vendors.

For more on this topic, our Consumer Tech Briefing  report from June 2020 outlines other product launches involving touch-free tech that helped businesses to safely resume operations post Covid-19 lockdowns.

Click here to read more about the adoption and evolution of contactless and contact-light technologies at various stages of the shopping journey, including ordering, checkout, payment and delivery.