Are Robotics In eCommerce Fulfillment the Future?

The future of eCommerce might be just be in the hands of robots.

Perhaps not yet in a fully automated orders handling, but at least some aspects of it just might be handled by robots. This is especially the case in handling and packaging orders.

Order handling and packaging is still mostly done by humans. This highlights a few weaknesses as people do get tired, or otherwise gets sick.

With robots handling and packing orders, it could become more efficient and even cheaper in the long run.

Is Robotic Fulfillment coming to the masses?

Speed is increasingly important in eCommerce. People want to have their orders done and shipped as soon as possible.

Delivery time can make or break an online business as people want their orders to be sent as soon as possible and Amazon are making same day delivery much more of an expectation amongst buyers.

The time spent in handling and packing orders could be shortened if robots are used.

Already this is being tested. Hudson’s Bay. Co. along with China’s JD.com are testing robot pickers in their distribution centers.

Robots can move products 50 percent faster than humans, and possibly even faster than that.

Amazon leads the way

Large online retailers such as Amazon can benefit from robots, as such sites can have millions of products being sold and traded daily.

Whilst Amazon uses advanced automation and early stage robotics in their fulfillment centres, robots to pick items from shelves is the next step.

Amazon is actually looking into robotics. It will have its third annual automated picking competition at a robotics conference in Japan.

Amazon is also funding research and development into robotics use for eCommerce.

Most experts though believe that a fully automated picking service is still at least a year away from happening.

The technology is out there now, and it is only a matter of time before it will be used to speed up eCommerce service even more.

In the long run this could be cheaper for many eCommerce sites and fulfillment centers, as it will cut time and storage overhead for many products.

With eCommerce becoming more competitive, the need for faster service is certainly there, and robotics can help in driving online business even further.

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