Amazon is developing smart glasses for its delivery drivers to guide them around and inside buildings, five people familiar with the matter said, as it tries to streamline the final step of an order’s journey to a customer’s home.
If successful, the glasses will provide drivers with turn-by-turn navigation on their routes and at each stop on a small embedded screen, according to the people, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity because the project is not public.
Such instructions can shave valuable seconds off each delivery by providing left or right directions around obstacles such as elevators, gates or aggressive dogs.
With millions of packages delivered every day, seconds add up. The glasses will also free drivers from using handheld global positioning system devices, allowing them to carry more packages.
The project underscores the online seller’s efforts to reduce delivery costs per package and support margins as it fights growing competition from Walmart, which has stepped up its e-commerce efforts and cut prices. . Walmart is paying new incentives to independent delivery drivers to place online orders during the holiday season, the retailer told Reuters.
The people warned that Amazon’s Delivery Glasses could be postponed or delayed indefinitely if it does not work as envisioned, or for financial or other reasons. Sources said these may take several years to get right.
When asked about the driver glasses, an Amazon spokesperson said, “We are constantly innovating to create a safer and better delivery experience for drivers.” “We do not otherwise comment on our product roadmap.”
Amazon has worked for years to develop its own in-house delivery network, including its airlines, long-haul trucking and vast suburban warehouses. By doing so, it hopes to speed up deliveries and reduce expenses by reducing its reliance on couriers UPS and FedEx.
Amazon’s shipping costs rose eight percent to $23.5 billion (roughly Rs. 1,98,329 crore) in the third quarter.
last 100 yards
The “last mile” of delivery is expensive and complex because it requires navigating neighborhoods, deploying more couriers, and using more fuel. According to some estimates, half the cost of delivering a product to the customer’s door occurs in the last mile.
Now Amazon has turned its attention to the “last 100 yards” (91 meters). In October, it unveiled a scanner it would install on the roof of delivery vans, allowing drivers to be directed to packages for each stop by shining a green spotlight, saving time typically spent reading labels.
The Delivery glasses in development are built on Amazon’s Echo Frames smart glasses, which allow users to listen to audio and use voice commands from Amazon’s virtual assistant Alexa, the people said.
Known internally by the code name Amelia, the delivery glasses will rely on a small display mounted on a lens and can take photos of delivered packages as evidence for customers, the sources said. Amazon released an unrelated chatbot for third-party sellers in September also known as Amelia.
But the technology is still in development and Amazon is having trouble creating a battery that can last a full eight-hour shift, and still be light enough to wear all day without causing fatigue, the people said. Plus, it could take years to collect complete data on every home, sidewalk, street, road and driveway, he said.
Amazon has said delivery drivers visit more than 100 customers per shift. With increased efficiency, Amazon can ask drivers to carry more packages and visit more homes.
The Seattle company may face other hurdles, including convincing its thousands of drivers to use the glasses, which could be uncomfortable, distracting or unsightly, the people said, not to mention the fact that To that end, some drivers already wear corrective glasses.
However, much of Amazon’s delivery force consists of outside companies, meaning Amazon could make wearing glasses a contractual requirement, the people said.
Sales of the company’s consumer wearable Echo Frames have been disappointing. Amazon has sold less than 10,000 units of the latest generation released late last year, the two people said.
The embedded screen in development is also slated for a future generation of Echo Frames that could be released in the second quarter of 2026, the two people said.
© Thomson Reuters 2024
