See the robots that are taking on cleaning, inventory checking, and delivery tasks at retailers like BJ's, Lowe's, and 7-Eleven
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Ben TobinMar 21, 2023, 16:53 IST
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The future is now for retail, as many stores nationwide are using robots to help with day-to-day tasks.
BJ's Wholesale Club announced this past week it will deploy robots, named "Tally," to roam its aisles to help track inventory.
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Lowe's recently revealed that it's experimenting with using autonomous robots to patrol parking lots to enhance safety.
The home-improvement chain is no stranger to robotics. Years earlier, it deployed the "LoweBot."
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Lowe's and BJ's are only the latest of a large swathe of retailers to implement these types of technologies.
Walmart, for example, rolled out a robot called "Alphabot" to help with grocery picking and packing in a store in New Hampshire and plans to expand to other stores.
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The company also tried aisle-roaming, inventory-scanning robots for about three years, but stopped using them in 2020.
The company has also invested in "next generation" fulfillment centers that heavily rely on automation.
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Meanwhile, regional grocery store chain Giant introduced "Marty," a googly-eyed robot, to stores in 2019.
Apparently even robot workers need to shake things up from time to time. Marty went on an adventure earlier this year, escaping into the parking lot of a Giant store in Pennsylvania.
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7-Eleven is testing a 'WALL-E'-looking robot, appropriately titled Snack-E, to deliver Slurpees and other items.
Some robots can do double duty. In 2022, Sam's Club announced it had completed a chain-wide rollout of robotic floor scrubbers with 'inventory scan' towers.