What will grocery delivery look like in 20 years?
Deakin University’s latest study looked at how driverless grocery stores could replace supermarkets.
Australians could receive their groceries from autonomously-driven mobile stores, while drones might replace the traditional mail services in just 20 years, according to Deakin University’s latest scenario-planning study.
The research team investigated how mobile driverless grocery stores could potentially replace supermarkets, while drones and ‘RoboPost’ automatic delivery units, travelling along footpaths and bike lanes, could take over mail services.
The project identified about 200 future drivers of change through interviews with experts in the supply chain industry, leading to a development of four future scenarios – including an imaginary of the world in 2037.
“This strategy will inform the development of infrastructure that will take several years to implement and then needs to last decades. So it’s critical we look deep into the future,” Deakin University Senior Research Fellow Dr. Roberto Perez-Franco said.
The scenarios is expected to allow industry experts to obtain important insights into how Australia could be successful and competitive.
“But that’s a very difficult thing to do, we really don’t know what will happen in two decades’ time. We can look at the issues of today, but where we need to go next requires a lot more analysis, and that’s where scenario work like this comes in,” Perez-Franco added.
