TECHNOLOGY – ROBOTICS: RETAIL
Technology is in the process of completely transforming all aspects of 6 industries – retail, transport, manufacturing, finance, construction, and medicine – with a significant reduction in the need for human labor. Here is the impact on the Retail Industry:
- Product manufacture (including food preparation) is being automated, using such technologies as robotics, CAD, and additive (3D or 4D) manufacturing. Many products are being customized to specific customer specifications.
- The supply chain that transports products to warehouses and onward to stores or customer locations will be automated by the use of autonomous robots, cars, trucks, trains and ships – with tracking based on paperless blockchains.
- Fully-automated warehouses are already in use, which replace workers with robots and conveyor belts to stock and retrieve products, and to fill orders
- Retail stores are changing their primary functions from the traditional look-touch-buy to look-touch-pickup (soon with the use of augmented reality technology), with ordering and payment via the internet. For groceries, look-touch-buy is being achieved without cashiers or sales staff or couriers. Most products sold on the internet will be delivered directly to customers’ homes by autonomous systems (vehicles or drones or robots).
- Customer support is using AI to handle automatically the majority of queries and concerns, while in-store support (including restaurant wait staff and hosts) will be provided by robots.
The number of jobs in the retailing process is being significantly reduced. There is already limited need for cashiers, sales staff, and warehouse workers. Fast food workers and restaurant wait staff will be replaced by robots. Supply chain workers (such as truck drivers and dispatchers and document handlers) will no longer be needed. This is already starting in a few places, but, as the cost of the new technologies drop (which will happen at an accelerating rate), expect much of this to be standard in 5-10 years (and earlier if the minimum wage keeps increasing).
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VIRTUAL AVATARS WILL CHANGE THE FUTURE OF RETAIL (Retail/Customer Service - 2022-01 - IOT World Today)
DeepBrain’s AI Kiosk has human-looking avatars that can handle thousands of possible scenarios and real-time interactions. They respond to customer queries just like real store clerks, and can be used in unmanned retail stores.
FAMILYMART TRIALS ROBOT FOR RESTOCKING CONVENIENCE STORE DRINKS (Retail/Inventory Control - 2021-11 - Japan Times)
Japanese convenience store operator FamilyMart has introduced a robot that automatically restocks drinks at a Tokyo store. The robot, set between display and storage shelves, restocks products by predicting sales based on the time and season.
FLIPPY 2 FRIES FOOD TO PERFECTION WITH NO HUMAN HELP (Retail/Restaurants - 2021-11 - Singularity Hub)
Miso Robotics’ Flippy 2 can do the work of an entire fry station without any human assistance, filling, emptying, and returning fry baskets with throughput 30% higher than its predecessor Flippy – or around 60 baskets/hour.
SHOPRITE TO TEST ROBOTIC GROCERY DELIVERY CARTS (Retail/Courier - 2021-09 - Supermarket News)
Two ShopRite stores in Pennsylvania plan to test delivery robots from automated logistics specialist Tortoise for online grocery service.
RESTAURANT USES FIVE COOKING ROBOTS TO MAKE MEALS (Retail/Restaurants - 2021-08 - The Spoon)
New Croatian restaurant uses 5 GammaChef cooking robots, making up to 60 meals per hour. Each robot creates one-pot dishes such as stews, risottos and pastas. The device stores ingredients, dispenses them into the pot, and stirs the food as it cooks.
ALBERTSONS PILOTS REMOTE-CONTROLLED ROBOTS FOR GROCERY DELIVERY (Retail/Courier - 2021-08 - Verdict)
Albertsons Companies has partnered with Silicon Valley tech startup Tortoise to pilot test automated groceries delivery using remote-controlled delivery robots to deliver groceries from retail stores to customer doorsteps.
CHINESE ROBOT WAITERS READY TO SERVE THE WORLD (Retail/Restaurants - 2021-05 - Nikkei Asia)
Shanghai’s Keenon Robotics will be sold in 10 countries in 2021. Its robotic servers wait by the kitchen for meals. Staffers load them up and specify the table to be served. A major selling point is their built-in obstacle sensors.
AUTONOMOUS MOBILE ROBOTS DOING THE DIRTY WORK (Retail/Cleaning - 2021-02 - TechCrunch)
Usage of cleaning robots is skyrocketing as automation technologies have been deployed in office and retail environments to sanitize surfaces for a newly germ-conscious public.
MOLEY UNVEILS WORLD’S FIRST ROBOTIC KITCHEN (Retail/Restaurants - 2021-01 - Asia Nikkei)
UK-based Moley Robotics uses a pair of robotic arms with fully articulated hands, specially- designed cookware and utensils, sensors and cameras, and a vast library of recipes. The robot will handle the cleaning both before and after meals. It can do everything: cooking, pouring water into pots and pans, adjusting heat, selecting ingredients, and even plating.
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