Leeds delivery robots: Kippax and Swarcliffe shoppers welcome futuristic grocery deliveries in new trial

Shoppers in Kippax and Swarcliffe will be able to have their groceries dropped off by new mobile machines from the Co-op and Starship Technologies that arrived in the district this week.

Already launched for 20,000 residents in Adel and Tinshill, Leeds City Council agreed to continue a trial of the technology after 75% of customers said they felt positive about the bots. It meant that a further 12,000 households to the east of the city would benefit.

All customers will have to do is register with the Starship food delivery app before picking out the household items they need for the week, which will then be delivered by the robots from either the Co-op store in High Street, Kippax, or the supermarket’s Swarcliffe shop in Swarcliffe Avenue.

Then, they will be able to watch in real-time as the app shows them the journey made by their mechanical courier. A box on the robot can be unlocked using the app to access the groceries.

One fascinated shopper described the robots as “absolutely fabulous”. She added: “You just see them trundling past and they make people smiley and happy. It’s making the whole village happy. I think they’re amazing.”

Another said: “They’re actually really cool. They’re very fast and they do bump into a few things every now and then but they’re not too bad. They don’t get in my way, so I’m not too fussed.”