Can Artificial Intelligence Speed Up Last-Mile Delivery? [Video]

Innovations in artificial intelligence (AI) are promising to transform last-mile logistics, making it more efficient, predictable, and responsive to consumer needs.

Giant Eagle in early October announced an expanded partnership with Flybuy, an AI-driven location platform. The goal of their collaboration is to cut avoidable delivery driver wait times by 50% to speed delivery to customers and enable drivers to maximize their earning potential, since most gig workers are paid by the order rather than by the hour.

Giant Eagle noted that across the industry, the average wait time for grocery delivery drivers to pick up an order is less than 10 minutes, but unexpected delays can result in reorders and late delivery for the end customer. Flybuy’s technology, which pinpoints which driver is arriving for specific orders and sends alerts to its main dashboard and picking app, has been shown to reduce wait times to less than 2.5 minutes on average.

Heather Feather, senior director of strategy, e-commerce, …