Another US state legalises delivery robots on footpaths

A week after Florida passed a law permitting delivery robots to operate on its footpaths, Ohio has become the fifth state in the United States to do the same.

The law was apparently supported by lobbying from Starship Technologies, the most famous of all delivery robot developers. “We can’t operate on a permanent basis before there is a law,” said Allan Martinson, the COO of Starship.

Other states that have passed laws permitting the same are Idaho, Virginia, and Wisconsin. It should be noted that despite being developed in nearby Silicon Valley, the city government of San Francisco is considering banning the vehicles from their pavements – it isn’t a clear and fast road ahead for the technology.

The new Ohio law permits delivery robots for run on footpaths as long as they weigh less than 45kg and travel at no more than 10mph.

While the delivery robots are now permitted to run on Ohio’s pavements, Starship Technologies are not running any robots in the state. This could be a signal of plans to run them nationally, though again Starship haven’t been clear about this. What is the case, is that due to Federal Aviation Authority rules, land-based robots of this kind are more likely to take off in the US than airborne drones that the likes of Amazon are so fond of promoting. The technology of delivery robots are far simpler and potentially safer for the public. Since laws are being passed across the US right now, we could see widespread use in the very near future.  
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Amazon moves into Utah

Online giant Amazon is to set up its first ever fulfilment centre in Utah. The 855,000 square foot site is to be built in Salt Lake City.

“We are excited to continue growing our team with the first fulfilment centre in Utah,” said Akash Chauhan, Amazon’s Vice President of North American operations.

“In Utah, there are already more than 30,000 authors, sellers, and developers growing their businesses and reaching new customers on Amazon products and services. This new facility will enable us to better serve customers and improve Prime membership benefits.”

While the online marketplace and logistics company has taken steps toward total world domination of the e-commerce market, there are still places for Amazon to go even at home it seems. Amazon seems to prefer high population density, urban centres as a first step, so Utah with its vast wildernesses and relatively rural economy is a gap that it has filled long after expanding into the likes of the UK and much of Europe…

 
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All Volvo car models to be electric

Swedish automakers Volvo Cars have announced that every model of Volvo the company launches from 2019 is to have an electric motor.

The company said in a statement that this will “mark the historic end of cars that only have an internal combustion engine (ICE) and placing electrification at the core of its future business”.

“This is about the customer,” said Håkan Samuelsson, president and chief executive. “People increasingly demand electrified cars and we want to respond to our customers’ current and future needs. You can now pick and choose whichever electrified Volvo you wish.”

Volvo Cars is to focus on producing a mix of fully electric (BEV), plug in hybrid (PHEV) and what it terms ‘mild hybrid’ cars.

In addition Volvo have said that it will launch five fully electric cars between 2019 and 2021. Three of these will be Volvo models and two will be high performance BEVs from Polestar, Volvo Cars’ performance car manufacturers.

While Volvo aren’t famous for making delivery vehicles of LCV size, EVs are going to be a major segment of the delivery fleet worldwide. Volvo is supported at home by the Swedish government and a view at home that the environment really matters. It is a major global player in car sized vehicles, and this is a move that people should take note of. With BMW recently announcing a range of PHEV drivetrains to go in its vehicles, it seems that the EV revolution is starting to take centre stage.
 
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Argos Fast Track sees 36% growth

Sainsburys Group Chief Executive Mike Coupe has said that Argos Fast Track had a ‘stellar performance’ when he presented the Group’s Q1 results this week.

Coupe made the announcement yesterday, and was upbeat about Sainsburys online business as a whole. Argos however led the way.

“Groceries Online sales grew by 8% and Convenience delivered strong growth of 10%, in line with our strategy of being there for customers whenever and wherever they want to shop,” said Coupe.

“General Merchandise and Clothing, including Argos, outperformed the market, with Fast Track delivery and collection seeing a stellar performance during the quarter, particularly during the period of warm weather when customers wanted to buy and receive their products the same day. Argos customers are increasingly choosing to shop with us online, consistent with our objective of being a leading digital retailer.”

Argos Fast Track deliveries were up 36% and collection was up 64%, far outstripping even the figures of the UK e-commerce market that sees double digit growth annually as a whole.

Coupe added that Sainsbury’s now has 212 digital collection points in its supermarkets, where customers can collect DPD, eBay and Tu clothing, 142 of which are enabled for Argos orders. In addition, Sainsbury’s is trialling six collection points in convenience stores.

It seems that last year’s acquisition of Argos by Sainsburys has reaped great rewards for the Group. This may be an important factor in any future acquisition or merger that is rumoured to be on the cards in the near future… 
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Ocado – profits down to £7.7m

Online grocers and technology firm Ocado saw revenues grow by 12.5% to £659.6 million but its pre-tax profits fell £1.7 million to £7.7 million in the half year to 28th of May.

Ocado have released a statement saying that the fall in profit was a result of higher depreciation from its Andover FC opening.

In addition the average Ocado.com basket size fell in value by 1.4% to £108.45, though order volumes grew by 15.6% to an average of 260,000 orders a week.

Apex Insight has reported recently that Ocado has recently announced it has reached an agreement to help a major European retailer builld an online grocery delivery operation. Ocado didn’t say who this was, and has remained quiet about who it might be in the half year report.

Commenting on the half-year results, Tim Steiner, Chief Executive Officer of Ocado, said: “I am pleased to announce another period of consistent customer, revenue and order growth, as well as improved operating efficiencies within our UK retail business. In addition, I am delighted to have announced our first OSP agreement with a European retailer.

“After several years of price deflation in the U.K., we have seen this begin to ease in the period and, when combined with our increasing scale and operational efficiencies, this trend will support the continued profitable growth of our retail business.

“As the channel shift to online advances we continue to gain share in a competitive U.K. market. We expect the trend for grocery shopping online to continue as consumers become more tech savvy and gain confidence in the online services available. Ocado will be a natural beneficiary of that trend thanks to its industry-leading customer offer. We continue to build new facilities in the U.K. in order to meet the increasing demand we see.

“Meanwhile, we have invested further in our platform and innovation to advance our technological leadership, as we continue to grow our technology and engineering teams. With the scaling of our Andover CFC and the store pick capabilities we have developed for Morrisons, we are able to better demonstrate the quality of our platform to current and future international customers.

“Grocery retailing is changing and we are ideally positioned to enable other retailers to achieve their online aspirations. We expect our recently announced international partnership to be the first of many and look forward to helping more retailers provide a high quality service to their customers in this rapidly evolving market.”  
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Amazon completes purchase of Souq.com

Online giant Amazon has completed the acquisition of the Middle Eastern Souq.com online marketplace.

Online shoppers can already log into Souq.com using their Amazon account – the integration process of the two platforms is already taking place.

The agreement for Amazon to make the purchase was made at the end of March this year.

 
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Royal Mail cracks down on scam mail

According to Royal Mail it has stopped one million scam mailing items from reaching homes in the UK since the postal operator launched its latest drive to stop the fraudsters in November 2016.

Royal Mail has released a statement that says it is storing the impounded scam mail in a secure warehouse at an undisclosed location where it will be destroyed by trained disposal experts.

The scam mail in question includes items such as invitations to participate in lotteries with fake prizes and letters from “clairvoyants”.

“We are working hard to try and stop this terrible material from reaching UK households,” said Stephen Agar, Managing Director of Letters at Royal Mail. “Every item of scam mail, however, is one item too many. We continue to fight against the fraudsters who cause so much misery.”

In November, Royal Mail announced the coordination of an industry-wide response to tackle fraudulent mail at its source including the launch of an industry-wide code of practice, developed by Royal Mail and supported by firms including Whistl and UK Mail. And then in March, Royal Mail announced changes to the terms and conditions governing bulk mail contracts, enabling it to follow up on solid intelligence by refusing to carry mail that is suspected to be fraudulent.

Direct mail is one of the most effective forms of advertising which is why scam attempts can be so successful unless thwarted by the delivery operator. Unlike emails ‘from rich bankers’ in Nigeria, people are more likely to pay attention to a letter that makes empty promises. This move by Royal Mail could tackle a major issue.  
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UPS – Industrial buyers want faster delivery

United Parcel Service (UPS) has published research that shows that industrial buyers now expect very fast delivery wherever possible.

Commenting on the delivery-focused findings of its 2017 Industrial Buying Dynamics Study , UPS said: “Two in five buyers say they need same-day delivery for at least a quarter of their industrial orders, and 60% say they typically need delivery for all orders within 48 hours or less.”

The headline news from the survey, was that online commerce is continuing to disrupt industrial buying.

Kiel Harkness, marketing manager, UPS UK, elaborated: “The story of industrial buying in 2017 is a story of disruption: direct and online models of commerce are supplanting old established buyer-distributor relationships.

“Whether it is buying direct-from-manufacturers or e-marketplaces, the traditional intermediary is under pressure everywhere – and online information and transaction capability are the great drivers of this change.”
 
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Shutl: smarter and better delivery options important for SMEs

Same day courier Shutl has indicated that SME retailers it has surveyed believe that “smarter and better delivery options” are “key to success”.

In a statement Shutl said: “Seventy-three per cent of those [SMEs] surveyed stated competition from larger online retailers as being the biggest threat to the success of their business in 2017/18, with the might and marketing power of bigger online brands representing a real threat to this group.

“Just under 3 in 5 (59%) felt the spread of delivery or distribution networks gave larger retailers the biggest competitive edge. But 34% felt smarter ecommerce technology, and better delivery options for SME retailers would help them compete more effectively.”

Shutl continued: “Delivering better value with customer service was key to competing against the larger retailers, with over two thirds (70%) believing the delivery of a more personalised customer service and a unique brand experience (62%) would win out against the larger retailers, whose track record to date may have been poor.”

Jason Tavaria, Head of Shutl, added: “The results of this survey point to buoyant SME retailers, who are increasingly using technology and smarter selling options to compete against the bigger retailers with larger budgets. Today delivery is no longer such a big USP.

“Carriers have become increasingly savvy about the SME group as a compelling audience, and in turn costs have reduced and technology is supporting an infrastructure that is dynamic and cost effective. Thus the continuing technological innovation to support SMEs is making it easier, and more cost effective for this group to compete.”
 
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GMB takes on Addison Lee over drivers rights

Ahead of an employment tribunal in Central London on 4th July, the GMB union has launched fresh legal action against Addison Lee over its drivers’ employment status.

The Central London Employment Tribunal is to hear the case tomorrow.

Three Addison Lee drivers are to form the test case before the Tribunal, represented by the Leigh Day law firm.

According to the claim made by the GMB, drivers should be classified as employees and therefore entitled to the National Minimum Wage, sickness and holiday pay, benefits that they are currently denied under the terms of their current engagement.

This is not the first case that the GMB has taken on. Apex Insight reported how the union took on Uber in the London Employment Tribunal last October, with the tribunal finding in the drivers’ favour. Uber is currently appealing the decision which is due to be heard in September at the employment appeal tribunal.

Maria Ludkin, GMB Legal Director, said: “Addison Lee is shirking its responsibilities through bogus self-employment.

“Addison Lee drivers work for Addison Lee and are entitled to the same basic rights and benefits as workers in other industries.”

Liana Wood, representing the drivers for Leigh Day, added: “Addison Lee currently denies that its drivers are entitled to the most basic of workers’ rights.

“They argue that drivers do not work for Addison Lee but instead work for themselves and are self-employed.

“On behalf of our clients we will claim that Addison Lee is wrongly classifying its drivers as self-employed with the result that drivers are denied the rights and protections that they were lawfully intended them to have, including the right to not have their contracts terminated because they are members of a trade union.

“We will argue that Addison Lee exerts significant control over its drivers in order to provide a highly trained and vetted driving service to the public.”  
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