Covid-19 coronavirus: Robots and drive through grocery shopping in Countdown's new store

Thursday, 23 April 2020

Countdown Rototuna will feature a pick-up bay for online shopping.

The future of grocery shopping has arrived in the Waikato - complete with robots roaming the aisles.

But it'll be a while before shoppers see them, as while coronavirus prompted an early opening for the store on Thursday, it also means it'll be used only for online shopping.

With a capacity to fulfil 2500 online orders each week staff will even put your groceries in the boot of your car. The new store has an eye towards the future with contactless convenience and a store-to-boot drive-through for online customers using Countdown's pick-up service.

'There's a section of the building completely devoted to online orders,' says Store Manager Wynand Fourie.

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'You park up in a dedicated spot, pop the boot and we put the order into your boot.'

Countdown Rototuna store manager Wynand Fourie.

But that's not all.

In the wake of the lockdown the store's online service is being rolled out one month ahead of the store's grand opening. However, once the store does open its doors expected in late June shoppers will be greeted by something never seen in New Zealand.

''Kai' is a six-foot-tall robot that will be wandering around the store,' said Fourie.

Countdown Rototuna is a store specifically designed for the future of shopping.

Based off technology used in Woolworths, Australia. 'Kai' will roam the isles looking for hazards such as spills and fallen objects to which it will then alert Countdown staff.

'Once she finds one she'll sound and requires us to reset her before she moves on.'

Countdown's General Manager Digital, Sally Copland, said they're thrilled to unveil New Zealand's first grocery robot.

The new Countdown Rototuna store will have the capability to fulfil more than 2,500 online orders.

'Not only will Kai make the store safer and keep an eye out for obstacles, but she can also scan gaps in shelves, assisting the team to keep popular products stocked,' said Copland.

But while Kai is impressive, the store is more than a single time-saving automation. Although Copland said it's too early to reveal the specifics, the store will serve as launching point to unveil new technologies.

The new store will operate 12 hours a day and seven days a week.

'This will be a store where we have the opportunity to test out new technologies and support not only the customer experience but also our team's experience.'

The store was originally set to open to the public at the end of May. Copland said the Covid-19 environment meant the supermarket needed to act swiftly and change course.

'With New Zealanders staying home for the lockdown, more people than ever want groceries delivered to their door or ordered online for pick up. We made the call to open our Rototuna store early as an online-only fulfilment site to help increase our online shopping capacity in the Waikato area and support more customers.'

She says while Countdown's online demand was already experiencing a growth of 38 per cent each year, the lockdown has place renewed pressure on the move towards new technology.

'Covid-19 puts a very different lens on it in terms of the volume that you are dealing with… but we've been providing online shopping services for 20 years so we had a good infrastructure in place to deal with that.'

'This situation just means that new technology is going to grow faster than anyone had expected. I often say to my team we will see more innovation in retailing in the next five years than we have seen in the last fifty.'

The new store in Fergy Place will employ 90 people, including 69 who are new to the Countdown business.