US home improvement stores Lowe’s is introducing LoweBot, a NAVii autonomous retail service robot made by Fellow Robots, in 11 of its stores throughout the San Francisco Bay area.
Following a successful robotics test of OSHbot at one of the company’s Orchard Supply Hardware stores, LoweBot will roll out in phases over a seven-month period beginning in September in San José, California, and will further explore how robots can meet the needs of both customers and employees.
“We designed the NAVii robot to make the shopping experience easier for consumers – simplifying the process of finding the product you’re looking for – while also managing the back-end and keeping shelf inventory up-to-date for the retailer.”
“For nearly two years, we’ve studied how robots in our San José Orchard Supply Hardware store can help customers more effectively navigate the store to find products and assist employees with inventory scanning,” said Kyle Nel, executive director of Lowe’s Innovation Labs, the company’s disruptive innovation hub. “Now, we are taking those learnings and applying them to a focused group of Lowe’s stores to see how the technology supports a broader customer and employee base.”
LoweBot was developed through a partnership between Lowe’s Innovation Labs and Fellow Robots, the same Silicon Valley technology company specialising in the design and development of autonomous service robots that worked on the OSHbot pilot.
“We designed the NAVii robot to make the shopping experience easier for consumers – simplifying the process of finding the product you’re looking for – while also managing the back-end and keeping shelf inventory up-to-date for the retailer,” said Marco Mascorro, chief executive officer of Fellow Robots.
“Leaving the data and simple recommendations to NAVii allows Lowe’s employees to devote their attention to the Lowe’s customer, to provide them with thoughtful advice and personalised service.”