Shake Shack and Uber Team With Serve Robotics on Robot Delivery

Autonomous delivery company Serve Robotics has launched a robot delivery partnership with Shake Shack.

The collaboration, announced Wednesday (Aug. 14), lets diners who order from select Shake Shacks in Los Angeles via Uber Eats receive their food via Serve’s robots. According to a news release from the company, the partnership expands UberEats’ use of sidewalk robots, with the company working with Serve in LA from 2022.

“We are excited to add another national merchant like Shake Shack to our platform, a partnership made possible through the relationship we have built with Uber Eats across tens of thousands of successful deliveries,” said Touraj Parang, president and COO of Serve Robotics. 

“Today’s announcement highlights the value of Serve’s world-class strategic partnerships as we work to expand our geographic footprint and deploy 2,000 robots across the U.S. in 2025.”

The companies say their effort offers speed, convenience and an eco-friendly way to get food delivered, noting also that it’s cost effective, as the delivery raises efficiency and lowers costs, with “no need to tip the robot.”

PYMNTS spoke earlier this year with Noah Zych, Uber’s global head of autonomous mobility and delivery, as the company prepared to bring its robot delivery to Tokyo.

“We have a really strong business with Uber Eats there in Japan. It’s a good, high-density area that we think will be well-suited for finding the right deliveries to be done by the robots,” he said. 

“One of the things that we’ve definitely learned here in the U.S. is there are some trips that are really well-suited for robots and some trips that are still better suited to be done by our couriers.”

While PYMNTS Intelligence research has shown mixed sentiment among consumers about having food delivered by robots, Uber still sees demand for the technology and use cases tailored to the limits of the model — shorter distances and smaller orders.

“People are generally pretty excited about getting their food delivered by a robot,” Zych said. “… The thing our eaters care the most about, while having that fun experience of interacting with a robot, is still that their food comes quickly, and it comes in good condition.”

In other robotics news, PYMNTS wrote earlier this week about the use of humanoid robots in retail settings, noting that the path to widespread adoption may be longer than some expect. 

“The time frame for practical use of humanoid robots in the warehouse is easily five-plus years down the road, giving the workforce time to transition,” Andy Williams, EVP of North America at warehouse automation company Exotec, told PYMNTS.