[THE INVESTOR] Korea’s largest discount chain E-mart announced on Jan.6. that it has signed a partnership deal with startup ThorDrive for self-driving delivery services.

Under the contract, ThorDrive will test-run the service in the later half of this year. Products purchased at E-mart stores will be packed and delivered to the doorstep on the same day of purchase. The discount chain plans to select trial stores for the new service. 

E-mart’s self-driving shopping cart Eli (Yonhap)

“We have tried to combine market distribution and future technologies such as information technology, artificial intelligence and robotics for the fourth industrial revolution. Related research on future technologies is under way, and one of them is self-driving delivery,” Kwon Mi-hee, E-mart’s promotion team head told the Investor.

ThorDrive was established by key researchers from Seoul National University who launched Korea’s first self-driving car SNUver. It is participating in consumer technologies trade show CES 2019 being held in Las Vegas.

E-mart unveiled its self-driving concept shopping cart Eli in April 2018 and recently signed an agreement with LG Electronics to jointly develop it for use in large discount stores.


By Lee So-jeong (xojeong2@heraldcorp.com)