What robots are doing in stores right now
Retail has retired more robots than any other category. What survives is the workflow that changed around the robot — not the robot alone.
12Jobs robots do for a store today
10Independent deployment records behind this page
8 of 10Records that document a pause, removal or failure
Tick the jobs you want a robot to take
Each card shows how mature the job isWhere this does not work — read before you enquire
- Retail robots get retired more often than renewed. Write the exit clause before the pilot.
- Real-time alerts demoralise staff. The robot was fine; the workflow was not. Plan daily reports.
- “Autonomous” may mean remote-operated. Ask where the humans are.
- Cashierless is retreating, not scaling. The survivors are small, controlled sites.
- Greeter humanoids reduce engagement. Side by side at the same spot in the same week, staff drew several times more customers than the robot.
- Under about six stores the data may not pay for the robot. Shelf-scanning’s value is chain-level inventory data. Limited evidence
Unlabelled points come from operator-reported or independently observed deployments.
Built on 10 independent deployment records. Robot prices are vendor or reseller list figures and vary by market — confirm with the vendor.