Hirota chain adopts self-sufficient robots in its supermarkets

With fierce competition and the rise of online commerce, medium-sized supermarkets are investing in innovation to create new shopping experiences in physical stores and build customer loyalty.

The equipment performs and operates roles; the cost is R$ 60 thousand per unit

By: SiiLA News

06/28/2022

The 1960s animated series showed what the future of humanity would look like with so many technological innovations, from flying cars to suspended cities and robots doing household chores. Retired secretary Vera Parise, 68, had no idea she would be part of an actual scene from The Jetsons one day. But on the 20th, she met with a robot while shopping at the Hirota supermarket chain store in Vila Monumento, South of São Paulo. Chatty, the equipment, soon started a conversation: she greeted her, asked her name, and offered to help her find the products in the store. "I think this technological evolution is barbaric, sensational", said the retired woman.

Vera's reaction is exactly what retailers are looking for when investing in robots and other technological innovations, such as for example, payment by facial recognition and self-checkout – cashiers where the customer registers purchases and pays without the need to interact with any employee.

With fierce competition and the rise of online commerce, medium-sized supermarkets are investing in innovation to create new shopping experiences in physical stores and build customer loyalty. In the case of the Hirota chain, the company has been evaluating the use of autonomous robots for the past month. According to director Hélio Freddi, the plan is to have two robots in the Vila Monumento store, which serves as the company's headquarters and functions as a kind of laboratory. The goal is to have at least one unit in each of the other 17 stores in the chain.

Named Shyko (Chico in Japanese), the robot will have both customer service and operational functions. Marcio Akamine, IT manager of the chain, explains that in addition to helping customers find products in the store, the robot will gather customer data on its panel for later targeted offers. Shyko will also monitor product availability on the shelves, send online messages for restocking, and verify price labels against the system, especially in this period of high inflation when price changes are frequent.

Source: Estadão

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