Starship robots turn Santa's little helpers for Christmas deliveries in Lapland
In the Lapland town of Rovaniemi - the 'official' home of Father Christmas - customers are receiving their last minute Christmas shopping from delivery robots dressed up as elves and reindeer.
The robots, developed by Starship Technologies, are conducting the northernmost autonomous deliveries in the world, and need special snow tires, snow detection software and battery heating to cope with the wintery conditions. Starship’s Helsinki-based R&D team are working on a new chassis that will allow them to battle through even deeper snow.
Lisa Johnson, Vice President at Starship Technologies, says: “Our robots operate all over the world, so they’re the perfect helpers for Father Christmas. Most orders take up to 30 minutes, so the robots have a big role to play if Santa’s going to make all his deliveries in one night.”
“Co-Op and Uber Eats customers in the UK are already getting the Christmas shopping in using our robots. We hope to spread as much Christmas cheer as we can.”
Shoppers at supermarket chain S-Group receive Christmas shopping and year round grocery deliveries from over 800 robots in towns and cities across Finland. Starship’s robots now make 20% of its deliveries and have completed one million orders in three years.
Iona Maaranto, Business Developer at S-Group, says: “New robots are already being introduced at Starship’s depot and will begin delighting customers early next year. People come to see how the robots work from all around the world - this year, for example, from China and France.”
2025 RTIH INNOVATION AWARDS
Autonomous deliveries were a key focus area at the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards.
We received a record number of entries and many fantastic examples of the continued resilience and dynamism of the retail space during hugely challenging times.
For a full rundown of all of the shortlisted entries, click here.
Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC in Central London on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.
In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”
“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”
He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”
Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.
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