Oct. 09, 2020
Source: Sina Technology
Rino.ai, a leading autonomous delivery company, has announced a strategic partnership with Yonghui Superstores to launch retail-focused autonomous delivery services.
Founded in April 2019 by former members of Baidu’s autonomous driving team, Rino.ai is dedicated to developing and deploying last-mile autonomous delivery vehicles. This collaboration marks the first time autonomous delivery robots have been integrated into the logistics system of a major retail supermarket chain, bringing contactless delivery directly into the daily lives of local residents.
On September 15, Rino.ai’s autonomous delivery vehicles officially began operating at Yonghui’s Anting Xinzhen Store in Shanghai. Since October 2, all delivery orders placed through the “Yonghui Life” app have been fulfilled exclusively by Rino.ai’s autonomous vehicles.
Currently, four autonomous delivery vehicles are deployed at the Anting Xinzhen location, serving an area of 5 square kilometers that includes 14 residential communities and over 6,000 households. Since the launch, the vehicles have operated continuously for 24 days, from 8:30 AM to 8:30 PM daily—including during the National Day holiday. From October 1–8 alone, the vehicles completed nearly 300 delivery orders, with a peak of 21 orders per vehicle per day. The average delivery distance was around 2 kilometers, and users received their goods in approximately 37 minutes after placing an order.
The partnership between Rino.ai and Yonghui was made possible by Rino.ai’s proven experience in fresh produce and retail delivery operations. From February to June, Rino.ai provided continuous autonomous delivery services to residents within the Haidian Autonomous Driving Demonstration Zone in Beijing, completing 109 consecutive days of deliveries. In May, the company also launched a self-operated convenience store and forward distribution warehouse within Beijing’s Environmental Technology Park, supported by a proprietary WeChat Mini Program, “Rino.ai Select.” Orders placed through the app were fulfilled by autonomous delivery vehicles within 29 minutes.
These extensive operational deployments have provided Rino.ai with a wealth of real-world experience, enabling the team to develop mature solutions for critical challenges such as route planning, vehicle-pedestrian interaction, navigating open roads, community access, parking logistics, and user experience design.
According to estimates from Meituan, China’s food delivery volume is expected to increase 3–4 times in the next five years. However, delivery driver shortages and growing logistical bottlenecks already limit capacity. Inclement weather often leads to delivery overloads (“explosive sales”), and rising labor intensity has contributed to frequent traffic accidents, posing a growing challenge to urban safety and management. Given these constraints, labor-based delivery capacity cannot scale proportionally, and costs are expected to rise steadily—widening the supply-demand gap.
In response to these pressures, leading tech giants such as Alibaba, JD.com, and Meituan have been investing heavily in autonomous delivery. In 2020, all three companies expanded their R&D teams, accelerated autonomous vehicle deployment, and developed new delivery robot models to support future large-scale commercialization.
Unlike these internet giants, most supermarket and retail chains lack dedicated in-house delivery fleets and instead rely on third-party services such as Dada, Meituan, and Ele.me’s Fengniao. This outsourcing model may result in rising costs and increased strategic risk over time.
The Rino.ai-Yonghui partnership was launched in Jiading District, Shanghai—a region known for its commitment to intelligent connected vehicle (ICV) development. Jiading has built an extensive network of 53.6 kilometers of open test roads covering 65 square kilometers, including a wide range of road types and environments such as industrial parks, commercial areas, transportation hubs, and residential communities. This makes it an ideal location for real-world autonomous delivery deployment.
