Waymo自動駕駛汽車測試新業務 接送沃爾瑪購物客戶

Google's sister-company Waymo has announced a trial in which its self-driving cars will ferry shoppers to and from a nearby Walmart store to pick up their groceries.

日前，谷歌的姐妹公司Waymo對外公佈了一項測試，即自己旗下的自動駕駛汽車將在附近的沃爾瑪商店對購物顧客進行接送。

For now, the pilot is being restricted to 400-plus members of its early rider programme in Phoenix, Arizona.

目前這個試點項目僅限於在亞利桑那州菲尼克斯市參加過早期駕駛試驗的四百多位成員。

However, it indicates how the tech giant thinks the autonomous vehicles could be deployed if and when they exit the experimental stage.

儘管如此，本項測試一定程度上表明瞭這家科技公司對自動駕駛該以何種方式投放市場、何時能夠完成實驗階段的想法。

One expert said cost would be key.

專家稱，成本是問題關鍵。

The only word on pricing so far is a promise to offer participants discounts when they order goods via Walmart's Online Grocery Pickup service as part of the deal.

目前爲止，價格方面的信息僅有一項承諾：通過沃爾瑪在線商店服務下單的顧客將享受乘車折扣。

"If this is rolled out properly you would expect there to be a reasonably high threshold in terms of the price and spend commitment to justify the service," commented Julie Palmer, a retail expert at the consultancy Begbies Traynor.

諮詢機構貝格比斯·特雷諾的零售專家朱莉·帕爾默評論道：“如果推出得當，爲體現這一服務，你可以想象出在價格和支出方面可能會相當高。”

"You'd expect it to be limited to shoppers buying higher value items."

“這項服務也可能僅限於購買高價商品的消費者。”