Instacart plans to replace its gig shoppers with hundreds of ROBOTS in a bid to slash costs

Instacart contracts hundreds of thousands of gig workers to fulfill customers' grocery orders, but the firm is working on replacing a number of human shoppers with robots in a bid to compete with Amazon's automated fulfillment service. The news, unearthed in company documents obtained by Bloomberg, states Instacart is eyeing automation as a way to cut costs for customers and help it form stronger relationships with supermarket chains. According to people familiar with the matter, the firm's strategy includes building an unknown number of automated fulfillment centers across the US, with some attached to existing grocery stores. Others would be standalone facilities that complete orders for several surrounding grocery stores. Robots would gather non-perishable goods, while human workers would collect produce and deli items in Instacart fulfilment centers.