Grubhub’s bringing Amazon’s cashierless Just Walk Out technology to some colleges, the company announced today. The food delivery service will first focus on rolling out the tech to colleges, starting with Loyola University Maryland next week before expanding nationwide.
The tech is capable of identifying items taken from and returned to shelves so students and staff can buy food from on-campus stores without waiting in line. After scanning a QR code in the Grubhub app, the company will automatically charge their Grubhub-linked meal plans or other stored payment methods after they leave the store.
“With Just Walk Out technology and Grubhub, students, faculty, and staff will find a convenient way to purchase the items they need with a frictionless shopping experience so they can quickly get back to their studies,” said Jon Jenkins, vice president of Just Walk Out technology, AWS Applications, in a press release.
This is just one of the latest technologies Grubhub has adopted to make delivering food easier for US college students in recent years, such as robot delivery. Last year, the company partnered with three new robot-powered delivery service providers — Starship, Cartken, and Kiwibot — to deliver food via robots.
Grubhub isn’t the only company using AI to speed up the food ordering and delivery process. Uber Eats also uses robot delivery services, while DoorDash recently announced AI will answer all of a restaurant’s phone calls as a part of the company’s new answering service.
