Shoppers would be able to get 200 plus products 24×7.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: If the group Eat Greater Des Moines gets their plan approved, residents of the Iowa city may soon have access to a first-of-its-kind automated, robotic store that would dispense fresh, healthy food staples such as such as milk, fruit, bread, and eggs, as well as a few treats like soda.
Shoppers would be able to scroll through 200 products, and once products are selected, the shop would accept electronic payments in the form of debit, credit cards and other food assistance cards before robotically dispensing the products, according to KCCI news.
“It can dispense anything from one once to 10 pounds,” said Dave Maurer of Oasis24seven, the company that produces the touch screen ordering system. “The robotics are belt driven, there’s an extractor that takes the item off of the, puts it on a belt and delivers it.”
The goal of the grocery is to make healthy food options convenient and affordable.
“Throughout Des Moines, there are areas of town where access to quality food is limited,” Aubrey Alvarez, executive director of Eat Great Des Moines, told Fox News. “We would love for a full service grocery store to move into these areas, but until that time the robotic unit will address the gap in the community,” he continued.
As far as pricing, Alvarez explained that, as a nonprofit, “our goal is to keep the prices in line with a grocery store. We are sourcing as many items as possible through a local non-profit partner who supplies food to 12 food pantries. This will help us keep prices as low as possible.”
Alvarez also mentioned that customers don’t need to be worried about expired or stale food, as anything on the racks that is out-of-date will be automatically taken off.
Maurer informed CBS St. Louis that the project will begin construction in late July and the robotic store will open soon after. He said the concept will likely expand to grocery stores across the country due to its round-the-clock convenience for customers.
“Whether it is an apartment complex, parking [facility], military base … you could go down the list of the potential business channels for these automated robotic convenience stores,” he stated.