Robots are quickly making their way into retail stores, freeing up humans from mundane and labor-intensive tasks.
Walmart, Sam’s Club, Lowe’s, BJ’s Wholesale Club, and Ikea are leading the way in the adoption of these technologies.
Lowe’s is utilizing robots, named Knightscope K5, to patrol its parking lot, while BJ’s is deploying the robots “Tally” to track inventory. Meanwhile, Ikea has dispatched 100 drones to track and restock inventory, and Walmart has rolled out a robot, dubbed “Alphabot,” to help with grocery picking and packing.
In addition to these larger retailers, regional grocery store chain Giant has introduced “Marty” to its stores. This googly-eyed bot is designed to roam around the store autonomously and point out hazards for store staff to clean up. 7-Eleven is also testing a ‘WALL-E’-looking robot, referred to as Snack-E, to deliver Slurpees and other items. Sam’s Club even announced a chain-wide rollout of robotic floor scrubbers with ‘inventory scan’ towers.
These robots are already proving to be incredibly useful, and it appears that retailers are only beginning to develop the potential of robotic workers. By removing mundane and labor-intensive tasks, employees can focus more on providing quality customer service and responding to customer needs.
Simbe Robotics, creators of the autonomous robot Tally, is just one example of a company capitalizing on the demand for more efficient robot technology from major retailers. Founded by Brad Bogolea, the San Francisco-based startup has the goal of “automating the physical act of retail” for industries ranging from grocery stores to department stores. Bogolea and Simbe Robotics have been at the forefront of transforming retail and shopping experiences through automation technologies.
