Instacart
- Don't expect Instacart to replace its gig worker shoppers with robots anytime soon.
- Instacart CEO Fidji Simo says the company can deliver faster and more efficiently using its human shoppers.
- That's a contrast with companies like Kroger, which have built warehouses to automate order picking.
Automation has been claiming jobs for decades. But don't expect it to come for Instacart's gig workers just yet.
On the company's Tuesday earnings call, one analyst asked CEO Fidji Simo whether the company would consider alternatives to having people pick items off store shelves to fill orders — for example, automated systems.