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Walmart has released two new features just in time for holiday shopping.
Jasmine Vaughn-Hall, [email protected]

Ford partners with Walmart for a home delivery pilot project(Photo: Ford Motor Co.)

DETROIT – Ford Motor is partnering with Walmart and the Postmates online delivery service to study how consumers are managing stand-alone cars delivering grocery and retail products.

This decision reflects efforts to know the expectations of consumers who will shape the development of new driverless vehicle technology, said Wednesday the automaker.

Delivery of Walmart goods in Ford vehicles will take place in Miami-Dade County, Florida starting in 2019. The manufacturer performing a similar test with Domino's pizza company.

Ford plans to use drivers to deliver the purchased products to Walmart buyers who will not interact with the drivers. The customer experience, designed to emulate driverless delivery, will provide Ford with a better understanding of what customers want, as Ford's technology teams develop robotic cars for the delivery of goods.

More: Ford Selects Miami to Launch Domino Autoservice Pizza Delivery Service

More: Ford exposes its grand vision for a future autonomous car

"When you order online or with the Walmart app, he thanks you for your order and asks if you would like to participate in the project," said Ford spokesman Alan Hall. "These are random customers who help us develop our stand-alone pilot project."

Meanwhile, Walmart is competing with Amazon, which aggressively ramps up its delivery services and includes discussions on the possible use of drones. The chain of big box stores already offers grocery deliveries in nearly 100 markets.

"Before autonomous cars can become mainstream vehicles, we need to have a better idea of ​​how people want to interact with them," Walmart said. "Together we will gather crucial data to learn the best way to bring items to our customers." Future innovation will not be announced, but Walmart is committed to staying at the forefront of changes to make grocery shopping simple, fast and easy. "

Stephanie Brinley, Senior Analyst at IHS Markit, said the tests could help Ford identify "opportunities and potential challenges," while "Walmart needs to look at consumer expectations in an evolutionary way."

Ford collaborates with local and national companies to transport flowers, tacos, dry cleaning, etc., "said Brian Wolf, Business Development Director, Ford Autonomous Vehicles Division.

"The time has come to explore how grocery delivery can help expand consumer access across the country to fresh produce and other retail products." , did he declare.

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