Expansion of e-commerce, increased use of low-cost, light payload drones by startups and the growing usage of autonomous ground delivery vehicles witnessed in food and retail sector drive the autonomous last-mile delivery market to reach $ 4.96 billion by 2030.
According to the new research report the 'Autonomous Last-mile Delivery Market by platform, solution, application, type, payload weight, range, duration and region - Global Forecast to 2030',published by MarketsandMarkets, the market is valued at $ 860 million in 2021 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 21.5% till 2030.
According to the report, the incorporation of advanced sense and avoid systems in aerial delivery drones, expansion of e-commerce, and increased use of low-cost and light payload drones by startups for product delivery have led to the growth of autonomous last-mile aerial deliveries worldwide.
Also, the growing usage of autonomous ground delivery vehicles is witnessed in the food and retail sector due to congestion in urban areas.
Automatic delivery could be transformational for the retail industry, decreasing delivery costs by 80% to 90% compared to a human being doing it. Furthermore, advancement in technology for autonomous ground delivery vehicles and increased venture funding to develop next-level ground delivery vehicles have enhanced market growth.
Some of the players in this space include Starship Technologies, JD.com, Nuro, Amazon, Kiwi Campus, Zipline, United Parcel Service, Wing, Flirtey (SkyDrop) and Aerodyne Group (Malaysia). These key players offer drones applicable for various sectors and have well-equipped and robust distribution networks across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Latin America, and Africa.
MarketsandMarkets said that during the outbreak of COVID-19 worldwide, families throughout the globe preferred to self-isolate them and opted for the method of arranging online orders for their daily necessities. Thus, suppliers are implementing autonomous means such as drones and robots to deliver the goods to the customer without human participation. In addition, the rising adoption of newer last-mile methods such as curbside pickup, parcel lockers, and delivery subscriptions was launched, which has flourished the last mile delivery services across various nations.
Based on the platform, the market in the aerial segment is divided into Cargo Drone and Delivery Drone, and for the ground segment, the market is divided into Delivery Bots and Self Driving Trucks and Vans. The market for delivery drones in the aerial segment and self-driving vans & trucks in the ground segment is projected to grow with higher CAGR due to the increasing need for autonomous delivery solutions in the food and retail sectors and the growing need for contact-less healthcare supply deliveries using autonomous ground vehicles /aerial drones owing to COVID-19 pandemic, the research firm said.
Based on range, aerial and ground segments comprise a short-range and long-range segment. However, the long-range segment (>20 kilometres) is expected to lead both the aerial and ground autonomous last-mile delivery markets, with the higher CAGR during the forecast period. This is owing to the high portability, increased efficiency, and low operating costs of aerial drone delivery services. Also, the need to curb pollution in big cities and long-range autonomous ground robots could reduce carbon dioxide emissions to pose as the biggest driver for this market segment.
In terms of payload weight, aerial and ground segments are divided into <5 kg, 5–10 kg, and >10 kg. For Aerial Section, 5-10 kg payload weight segment is expected to grow with the highest CAGR. For the ground segment,>10 kg segment is expected to grow with the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The ongoing advancements in drone/autonomous ground vehicle logistics are expected to boost the payload carrying capacity of aerial delivery drones/ autonomous ground vehicles and enhance the market growth.
The aerial delivery drone/ground delivery vehicle market is classified into hardware, software, and infrastructure based on the solution. For both aerial and ground segments, the infrastructure solution segment will have the highest growth. The ongoing technological upgradation has boosted the market for drone/ ground bots infrastructure, as present airframes and autonomous delivery vehicles could be fitted with sophisticated sensors and AI technology for better flight control and performance.
According to MarketsandMarkets, North America is projected to lead the autonomous last-mile delivery market in 2021. The US is the largest autonomous last-mile delivery market in North America. The report added that the growing spending by the US government organisations for drone/autonomous ground vehicle upgradation and private players along with deployment of autonomous last-mile delivery solutions are key factors expected to drive the market in North America.
Courtesy: MarketsandMarkets. NB: Photo is representational; courtesy: Serve & Kiwibot.