Autonomous deliveries made via robots and drones could reduce the cost of a food order to as little as $1, Reuters reported, citing British brokerage Barclays.
The report comes as food delivery platforms increasingly test autonomous options as an alternative to traditional courier-based delivery.
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Delivery platforms such as DoorDash are already teaming up with specialist operators, mainly using sidewalk delivery robots (SDRs) and drones.
Barclays said this marks a “clear strategic shift” in how platforms are looking to handle last-mile delivery.
The report noted that autonomous deliveries currently cost $5 to $7 per order in early adoption areas with high labour costs. That is approximately $3 to $4 less than sending a rider.
Barclays said that over time, costs could fall further, potentially reaching $1 per drop.
In higher labour cost regions, this would translate into savings of $8 to $9 per order compared with existing rider-based services.
Assuming $4 in savings per order at scale, the brokerage estimates that autonomous delivery could generate roughly $16bn a year in additional global profit for food delivery platforms.
However, the use of autonomous options remains limited for now. Barclays estimates they account for under 1% of food delivery orders worldwide.
The brokerage expects that share to rise modestly to 2% by the end of the decade, before climbing to around 10% by 2035.
Barclays said DoorDash and Chinese operator Meituan are likely to be the main early beneficiaries.
The report also sees Uber among the companies best placed to gain from the shift, and adds Dutch technology investor Prosus as a potential long-term beneficiary.
Delivery Hero, its Middle East platform Talabat, and Southeast Asia’s Grab are seen as medium-term to longer-term beneficiaries.
Last week, DoorDash partnered with Alphabet-owned Wing to launch drone-based food deliveries in the metro Atlanta area of the US.
