The Rise of On-Road Delivery Robots?
Target axes in-store fulfillment, DoorDash pushes loyalty programs, Q2 GMV growth
Did you miss us as much as we missed you? Well we’re back, and we’ve got some hot new hardware, interesting operational updates, juicy GMV stats and of course loyalty, loyalty, loyalty…
This week we have extra industry coverage, thanks to our partners at Gridwise.
Today:
Robomart R5 Adds to On-Road Delivery Hardware Surge
Target Pilots End of In-Store Fulfillment
Chart Time | Who Won the Q2 Growth Wars?
DoorDash Pushes Loyalty with Streaks and Commerce Platform
AUTONOMY | Robomart Unveils New On-Road Delivery Robot
Robomart just unveiled the RM5, its new autonomous delivery robot that’s capable of on-road operations. The L4 vehicle can carry 500 pounds, is equipped with 10 temperature-controlled lockers for storing individual delivery orders and can go up to 112 miles at a top speed of 25 MPH. Robomart hopes to win over merchants and consumers alike by offering a flat fee of $3 for deliveries via its proprietary Robomart app, with deployment in Austin expected to go live by year’s end.
The Big Picture: This new hardware is the latest evolution for Robomart, which first came to market in 2018 with an autonomous, hailable convenience store. On-road capable, large format delivery robots seem to really be taking off these days: Serve Robotics just acquired Vayu Robotics, snagging its unique hardware, foundation model-based autonomy, and board member Vinod Khosla. (Check out Serve and Vayu’s Co-Founders on a panel together at Curbivore 2025.) Nuro — which really helped popularize on-road delivery bots with its R2 hardware — just hauled in a fresh $230M in funding. Other on-road form factors are making it work as well: Bot Auto is launching its autonomous tractor trailers in Texas, while Pinkbot’s pint-sized hardware (more on that here) is expanding to Toronto.
PARTNER | Are Autonomous Vehicles Impacting Rideshare Utilization and Driver Earnings?
Autonomous vehicles were expected to make rideshare cheaper for riders and more profitable for platforms. But how are they impacting traditional rideshare driver earnings and utilization today?
The Gridwise Autonomous Vehicle Impact Report analyzes four AV-active markets against nationwide trends to uncover the early effects on driver pay and productivity:
Hourly pay decreased YoY across all AV cities, including a –6.9% drop in San Francisco, while nationwide hourly pay rose +1.0% YoY.
Earnings per trip rose +3.4% YoY nationwide, but fell or remained flat in every AV market — with Austin declining –5.3% YoY.
Gross monthly pay dropped YoY in most AV cities, such as a –9.0% decline in Phoenix, even as nationwide earnings rose +8.0% YoY.
It’s still early days for autonomous vehicles, but the early data points to real pressure on drivers in AV markets.
Download the full report to get the complete picture of how AVs are reshaping rideshare.
OPERATIONS | Target Nixes Store-Based Fulfillment
Target is looking to get back to basics, with incoming CEO Michael Fiddelke announcing that 30 to 40 Chicago-area stores will stop fulfilling online orders. The pilot will nix store-based fulfillment from smaller stores, instead shunting those orders to larger locations with bigger backrooms that can fit more pack stations. The small-format stores will in turn focus on in-store shoppers, drive-up business and order pickups.
The Big Picture: These changes come at a tough time for the Minneapolis-based retailer, which has been beset by stagnant sales and flagging morale. While Target’s store-based fulfillment has helped it grow digitally originated sales to 18.9% of its overall mix, customers have grown frustrated that it has degraded the in-store shopping experience. Given Target’s impressive footprint, it should be able to push orders to its larger stores without having too big of an impact on delivery times. This change should certainly be food for thought for anyone pondering the efficiency of a traditional restaurant vs ghost kitchens as well. Either way, Target’s new CEO has his work cut out for him; but given that he started at the company as an intern 22 years ago, Fiddelke is likely committed to the cause.
CHART TIME | Q2’s Growth Winners
TheDelivery.World has charted GMV / GTV growth for the world’s delivery companies, finding a big divergence in the most recent quarter. Talabat, DoorDash and Grab are surging ahead, while JET and Korea’s Damae are hurting. Of note: non-restaurant orders now account for about 15% of overall volume, with share growing ~5% annually.
PRODUCT | DoorDash Debuts Streaks and Commerce Platform
DoorDash just unveiled a novel loyalty program: Streaks, pushing shoppers to make deliveries on Saturdays a regular habit. Between Aug. 23 and Nov. 15, consumers will get bigger and bigger discounts on each subsequent Saturday order, starting with 30% off, and maxing out at 80% off and $100 in promo credit after 11 orders. The emphasis on Saturdays is because the campaign is tied to college footballs, as the company’s new ad campaign (produced in-house) makes blatantly clear.
The Big Picture: DoorDash’s new loyalty push extends to the restaurant side as well. The company is expanding its Commerce Platform, including a new loyalty program that rewards guests whether they order from a restaurant's own app or website, the DoorDash Marketplace, or in-store. Merchants can choose between spend-based or visit-based rewards; customers opt-in via linking their credit cards, with no POS integration required. DoorDash is also rolling out updates to its free website builder, new email / SMS marketing tools, an improved CRM and updated pricing tiers.
A Few Good Links
McDonald’s launches Digitizing the Arches strategy. Virtual brand MrBeast Burger heads to Singapore. Flipkart reveals India’s top orders. Amazon to open 300 Indian dark stores. HelloFresh settles $7.5M consumer protection lawsuit with Santa Clara County. CoCo Bubble Tea expands in Texas. Black Rock Coffee Bar files for IPO. Del Taco parters with ezCater. Just Eat Takeaway trials RIVR’s scary robo-delivery-dogs. Chipotle takes to the skies with Zipline. Virtual Dining Concepts and Chuck E Cheese to do ghost kitchen version of Great American Cookies. Keeta expands to Qatar. Casual dining’s big comeback. Right wing weirdos mad about Cracker Barrel rebrand. Gourmet grocer Food Square launches on Instamart. European postal carriers pause shipments to U.S. over de minimis exemptions. Truckstop.com buys Denim for easy payment tech. DHL and Shopify expand international shipping options. Chipotle launches online-only “build your own Chipotle” meal kits. DoorDash backs AB 671 (Assemblymember Wicks, D CA-14) to ease restaurant permitting. DD ups grants to LA restaurants affected by January fires. McD’s turns to combo meals to lower prices. USPS opening 11 holiday sorting centers. Online grocery shopping penetration rate by age. ALDI launches fan club. BJ’s hits eight million members. Private label installment payment growth heats up. ATA hit with discrimination lawsuit. Meal kitter Feast & Fettle enters NYC, claims profitability. Domino’s relaunches $9.99 “Best Deal Ever.” Shipt awards 23 grants, launches portable benefits in Alabama with Stride. Deliveroo partners with The Felix Project on community kitchens, adds Healf as new merchant for wellness goods. Delivery Hero adds Last Stop feature for workers. Trump admin freezes work visas for commercial truckers. Africa’s Jumia fights off Temu and Shein. Toast named great place to work. iFood partners with Mottu for courier motorcycle rentals.
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