Walmart, Ford Motor team up to test self-driving car delivery

Ford Motor is partnering with Walmart and online delivery service Postmates to study how consumers would handle self-driving cars delivering groceries and retail items.

The move reflects an effort to learn consumer expectations that will shape the development of new driverless vehicle technology, the automaker announced Wednesday.

Delivery of Walmart goods in Ford vehicles will take place in Florida’s Miami-Dade County starting in 2019. The automaker is also conducting a similar test with pizza company Domino’s.

Ford plans to use drivers to deliver purchased goods to Walmart shoppers who will have no interaction with the drivers. The customer experiences — designed to mimic driverless delivery — will provide Ford a better understanding of what customers want as Ford technology teams develop robot cars to eventually deliver goods.

“When you order online or with the Walmart app, it will thank you for your order and ask if you would be interested in participating in the project,” Ford spokesman Alan Hall said. “These are random customers helping us develop our autonomous pilot project.”

Meanwhile, Walmart is competing with Amazon, which is aggressively stepping up its delivery services and has included talk of possible drone use. The big-box chain is already offering grocery delivery in nearly 100 markets.

“Before self-driving cars can go mainstream, we must get a better sense of how people want to interact with them,” Walmart said. “Together, we will gather crucial data to learn the best way to bring items to customers. There’s no telling what innovation the future will bring, but Walmart is committed to staying on the forefront of change to make getting groceries simple, quick and easy.”

Stephanie Brinley, principal analyst at IHS Markit, said the testing could help Ford identify “where opportunities and challenges might be,” while “Walmart needs to look at changes in consumer expectations.”

Ford is collaborating with various local and national companies to transport flowers, tacos, dry cleaning, and other items, said Brian Wolf, director of business development for Ford’s autonomous vehicle division.

“Now, it’s time to explore how grocery delivery can help expand access to fresh food and other retail items for people all over the country,” he said.