The latest move by Uber Eats to introduce food deliveries using robots is part of the foodservice industry’s wider response to Japan’s growing labour shortage issue, with its population shrinking and growing old. The initiative underlines the paradigm shift that is taking place in the Japanese food delivery space, according to Global Data, a leading data and analytics company.
“Uber Eats’ decision to bring its delivery robots follows the government’s decision in February 2023 to ease its traffic laws to allow autonomous delivery robots," said Neralla Rama Ravi Teja, Consumer Analyst at GlobalData.
"The government’s decision was in response to a labour shortage in the transport sector in cities. The move is also aimed at helping the older population who are becoming increasingly isolated. Many of them reside in rural areas, without access to daily necessities.”
Key Account Director at Global Data Japan, Mariko Kadosaka, said Japan’s population has been on a declining trend over the past few years.
"During 2018–23, the population fell at a negative compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 0.3 percent," said Kadosaka.
"In 2023, the number of people, including foreigners, dropped by a little less than 832,000, according to preliminary data from the health ministry. The number of births fell by 5.1 percent, exacerbating Japan’s struggle with its aging society. The share of the working population has been constantly declining, creating severe labor shortages for companies operating in Japan.”
The proliferation of delivery robots is an extension of the growing inclination among consumers towards food delivery for their meals. According to GlobalData’s 2023 Q4 consumer survey for Japan, 29 percent of consumers describe their spending on food delivery as very high or quite high. Among consumers aged 18 to 24 years, this percentage climbed to 58 percent. These numbers underline the general shift towards e-commerce and home delivery in Japan and globally in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Even though the initiative looks progressive on paper, the increasing role of technology in food delivery is likely to attract backlash from some corners. Given that Japan is renowned for its specific rituals associated with each occasion, there can be social backlash. In addition, there will be concerns over collisions with pedestrians. The innovation is also likely to spur opposition from gig workers, who have already been struggling with the country’s declining real wages and inflation. According to the Labour Ministry, real wages in Japan fell by 2.5 percent in 2023, registering the steepest decline since 2014. The figure fell by 1.9 percent annually in December 2023 and by 2.5 percent in November 2023.
