New York City — Last week TapRm became the first online beer platform in the U.S. to pilot a program of autonomous delivery with the use of robots. TapRm tested deliveries using wheeled robots with a suite of sensors for autonomous operation, in partnership with Axlehire and former incubator engineers from Google Area 120. The robot can carry up to 50 pounds (up to 36 beers), ideal for beer delivery, and travels on sidewalks at a maximum speed of 4.5 miles per hour.
While widespread autonomous delivery is still new in the adoption process by consumers, TapRm saw the need to push the development of the technology. “As a result of the increased demand for contactless delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic, we were looking to pilot autonomous last mile technology in the alcohol space as quickly as possible,” says TapRm’s CEO, Jason Sherman. “While the robots are still being perfected, this will enable superior experiences and reduced delivery costs for our customers over the long-run.”
The pilot successfully delivered TapRm’s beers to approximately 10 consumers around Brooklyn over a 3-day period. TapRm’s platform currently offers same-day delivery of over 450 beers from their 110 brand partners around New York City. As the fastest growing alcohol e-commerce company during the COVID-19 global pandemic (Rabobank, 2020), they are well positioned to push the boundaries of alcohol delivery nationwide.
About TapRm: TapRm is a new-age beer distribution platform based in New York City that helps supercharge the growth and consumer awareness for innovative brands. In addition to reaching the top bars, restaurants and supermarkets in the NYC region, TapRm delivers to tens of thousands of consumers across the state through their e-commerce platform, a first for a beer distributor in the United States. By combining that with brand website integration, data sharing and digital marketing and sales tools, TapRm frees brands to focus on growth.