Robots recommending PepsiCo‘s soft drinks and snacks on the shop floor? You can see them at work in two of Carrefour‘s Polish hypermarkets. The aim: to enhance the shopping experience.
Self-driving displays
In two Carrefour stores in Warsaw, you can see robots driving through the shop aisles with Pepsi drinks and Lays crisps. The devices support sales and aim to encourage interaction. “We want to make the shopping experience for consumers of our products more interesting and put a smile on consumers’ lips”, account manager Mariusz Janiec of PepsiCo Poland said.
The robots are completely safe: their sensors stop them when a human approaches or when they come close to obstacles. Carrefour sees the robots as an interesting tool for promoting new products: products coming to the customer instead of the other way around is an asset. The robots are therefore self-driving displays, attracting attention during the shopping trip.
PepsiCo and Carrefour believe that robots in marketing and sales will gain popularity in the near future. Possibly, these types of robots could also serve to give shoppers directions, take surveys, or check the availability of products on shelves.
