A new study by MarketsandMarkets expects the delivery robot market to grow from $11.9 million in 2018 to $34.0 million by 2024, at a CAGR of 19.15% during the forecast period. Autonomous delivery robots are primarily useful for food & beverages, retail, hospitality, and healthcare industries. Because of this, the companies developing delivery robots have been receiving funding from venture firms. Another driver for the delivery robot market includes the reduction in last-mile delivery costs.

According to the new market research report "Delivery Robots Market by Load Carrying Capacity (Up to 10, 10.01-50.00, and More than 50 kg), Component (LiDAR Sensors, Control Systems), Number of Wheels (3, 4, and 6), End-User Industry (Food & Beverages, Retail), and Geography - Global Forecast 2024," the market for robots with load-carrying capacity of up to 10.00 kg is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during 2018-2024. Robots with a load carrying capacity of up to 10.00 kg are mainly adopted by local restaurants for the delivery of food parcels and beverages to consumers. As these robots weigh around 25 kg, they are capable of carrying limited weight and adopted to deliver products in a shorter range. The existing challenge of traffic congestion that restricts the easy movement of autonomous vehicles puts limitations on the dimensions of robots. Because of this, the growth of the market for delivery robots with a load-carrying capacity of up to 10.00 kg is driven by their small form factor.

Hardware is anticipated to dominate the delivery robot market in 2018. Hardware contributes significantly to the development cost of a robot. Robot development stages such as designing, building, programming, and testing are a combination of physics, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, structural engineering, mathematics, and computing. The larger market share of hardware can be attributed to costly components such as LiDAR sensors and radars. The LiDAR sensor provides high-resolution, three-dimensional information about the surrounding environment to the delivery robot. This sensor not only locates the position of people and objects around the vehicle but also assesses the speed and route at which they are moving.

Increasing demand for delivery robots in the retail industry and growing labor charges for last-mile deliveries drive the delivery robot market growth in North America. Due to research programs supported by the governments of North American countries, North America is expected to hold the largest share of the delivery robot market in 2018. It has invested millions of dollars in robotics research projects, most of which are defense-related projects. North America has been home to many delivery robot manufacturing companies, such as Robby Technologies (U.S.) and BoxBot (U.S.). Sophisticated and adequate street infrastructure, such as proper design and sufficient width of sidewalks and footpaths, helps companies in testing and operating delivery robots in this region.

Major players in the delivery robot market include Starship Technologies (U.S.), JD.com (China), Panasonic System Solutions Asia Pacific (Singapore), Savioke (U.S.), Nuro (U.S.), Amazon Robotics (U.S.), Robby Technologies (U.S.), Boston Dynamics (U.S.), Robomart (U.S.), Eliport (Spain), Dispatch (U.S.), Piaggio Fast Forward (U.S.), Marble (U.S.), TeleRetail (Switzerland), BoxBot (U.S.), and Kiwi Campus (U.S.).