In Japan and China, robots could soon deliver food to your doorstep

For instance, Meituan's robot can move through a multi-story building and deliver orders to the customer's doorstep, though a human deliveryman is still needed to bring the food to the building, Xia said, according to CNBC's translation of his remarks in Chinese. He said this will save approximately five to seven minutes per delivery -- that's about one to two Chinese yuan ($0.14-$0.28) The company's robots have already delivered thousands of orders, added Xia. The eyes of ZMP's robot, named CarriRo Deli, "can express rich expressions and communicate with people by voice," the company's manager, Hiromasa Iwano, told CNBC in an email. These innovations in robotics are meant to tackle labor shortages and reduce delivery time.