Technology

Online grocer enhances delivery with in-house AI-powered technology

Photo by istock.com

October 13, 2020

Farmstead, a Bay Area, California online grocer, is providing faster delivery to its customers, with a free under two hour delivery within a 50-mile radius.

The delivery is made possible by its own AI-powered software called Grocery OS which it plans to make available to other national and regional grocers, according to a press release.

Orders can be placed up to two hours before customer's delivery window starts. The latest delivery option is in addition to Farmstead's existing under-30-minute delivery option in a smaller, five-mile radius around its micro fulfillment center.

Farmstead launched in the Bay Area in 2016, and is known for fresh produce and mix of local and national brands. It developed proprietary AI models to help predict what to stock and to increase the efficiency of order picking, packing and delivery density as customer demand increases, according to the release.

"Farmstead's tech-driven approach to operations, and our knowledge of scale and density, have created a flywheel that's helping continually improve our efficiencies, so we can lower fees and serve more customers," Pradeep Elankumaran, founder and Farmstead CEO, said in the release. "Farmstead's warehouse-centric approach and low costs have helped make grocery delivery and hence fresh, high-quality food delivery accessible to a huge new swath of customers. While other grocers talk about the promise of grocery e-commerce but still keep the total cost of service out of reach for the majority of customers, we're already delivering on it."

Farmstead's first expansion area will be the Carolinas later this year, according to the release.