The food business originally lagged other industries in embracing digital transformation. But the pandemic and autonomous vehicle technology are now catapulting grocery and restaurant delivery to the forefront of e-commerce and the digital revolution overall. Food has been muscling into a lead compared with other major verticals such as deliveries of medical supplies or manufacturing parts.
"Grocery deliveries and medical supplies are the two areas driving adoption of autonomous delivery," said Anand Gopalan, CEO of Velodyne Lidar, which supplies key technology to help self-driving vehicles find their way.