United StatesLogistics and transport2019 – ongoingAmazon
Scout sidewalk delivery robot trials
Amazon stopped Scout's delivery field tests after customer feedback exposed unmet needs
Problem
Amazon tested autonomous sidewalk robots as another way to deliver customers' packages. Scout was intended to provide a new delivery experience within its existing ordering service.
Approach
Amazon began testing Scout in Washington state in 2019 and later expanded to California, Georgia and Tennessee. Customers ordered normally, with packages delivered either by Scout or a partner carrier. In October 2022, Amazon said feedback showed that aspects of the service were not meeting customers' needs and ended the field tests. It described the decision as a reorientation rather than abandonment of the entire project and said it would help affected employees find other roles.
Results
No published figures
Takeaway
Expansion into additional locations did not resolve the customer needs Amazon identified through the trials. The public explanation did not specify which parts of the delivery experience fell short.
Categories
- Size
- Large enterprise
- Industry
- Logistics and transport
- Business function
- Production and qualityLogistics and supply chain
- Innovation type
- Process innovationProduct and service innovation
- AI technology
- Robotics and automation
- Adoption
- Built in-house
- Evidence
- Press reporting
Sources
Source summaries
Amazon confirmed that Scout's live tests would stop because the program did not fully meet customer needs. Its spokesperson said the company was scaling back the program without abandoning it altogether.
The report described Scout's launch in 2019, subsequent trial locations and its role alongside existing delivery carriers. Amazon attributed the field-test termination to customer feedback and said it would match employees with other jobs.
Full details are in the original sources.