Mainichi: Robots and Stores:

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20200724/p2a/00m/0bu/053000c

Article:

TOKYO -- The move to introduce robots to help with customer service and stocking shelves is increasing among restaurants and convenience stores in Japan, with the aim to support people who find it difficult to work outside and help solve the serious labor shortage in the service industry.

The use of robots is also raising hopes as a protective measure against the novel coronavirus and is drawing attention over whether they can make full-scale expansions into eateries and retail shops.

Ideas:

The use of robots in Japan has been a long time coming. But the virus situation has increased the possible need and use of robots in the future.

Of course the so-called on going labor shortage in conbinis or convenience stores has also maybe accelerated the idea of using robots in the future.

For whatever reason, related to the so-called labor shortage, Japanese college students just don't want to work at conbinis it seems. It could be related to the hours offered for part-time work, the low pay that conbinis are only able to afford or any number of understandable reasons. 

Whenever I visit a conbini in Yokohama, for example, the person or persons working are either the elderly or international foreign exchange students, as you can see their name tags. 

The same if I go to Mos Burger or even McDonald's where I usually only see the elderly working there. 

Article:

Mos Food Services Inc. revealed to the media on July 21 a robot serving customers at the register at Mos Burger's Osaki store in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. The robot called "OriHime," measuring about 23 centimeters in height, was developed by a start-up company. It is remotely controlled by an employee using devices including a laptop. Customers can be seen through a camera built into OriHime, and employees can communicate with customers using a microphone and speaker. The order, when typed into the laptop, is communicated to workers in the kitchen and customers can pay their bill at the register.

The Osaki store will perform a test-run of the system for about a month from July 27. A 19-year-old man in the western Japan prefecture of Osaka, who has an intractable disease and has difficulty going outside, controlled the robot at the Tokyo store on July 21.

Mos Food Services has had automated registers at some outlets since 2019. Executive Officer Yasuaki Kaneda said, "We wanted to provide warm service to customers instead of just using the devices. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, we would also like to offer services that do not require direct contact." The company is considering implementing the system at several of its stores and using the robot to also serve at tables as well as for drive-through services.

Ideas:

I can understand the need for safety during the virus situation.So  what Mos Burger is doing hopefully is good for the company and at the same time good for customers too. 

Customers, for the most part, still think customer service is very important, especially in Japan. They most likely still want the feel of a human that they can have some kind of contact with, especially the elderly, who might go to a conbini, post office, supermarket, hair shop etc. just to see a human and or talk to a human during the day.

Companies need to find a way to keep that human contact, as much as possible, but at the same time find ways to be safe and of course the all important idea of reducing cost as much as possible, but not at the cost of reducing valuable and needed human contact and or customer service.

Article:

Meanwhile, convenience store giants Family Mart Co. and Lawson Inc. also aim to save labor by introducing human-shaped robots developed by robot maker Telexistence Inc. Family Mart and Lawson will respectively perform a test-run of the system at one of their stores in Tokyo in late July and mid-September.

The robot will be remotely controlled and will be in charge of stocking beverages from the back of the shelves first. The number of tasks will be gradually increased with the aim for the robot to automatically stock all products on the shelves, as well as making fried chicken and other foodstuff and displaying them in the future.

However, there are many technical difficulties in terms of how robots can smoothly carry out detailed tasks at a store where customers are walking around. Products need to be placed in order of their expiration dates, and the two major convenience store chains will carefully examine the accuracy of the robots' work.

A representative of Family Mart explained, "We would like to introduce the robots at more stores after examining their work efficiency and reductions in labor costs." The company plans to implement the system at up to 20 stores by 2022.

Ideas:

I think the idea here is maybe, if robots are going to be used for stocking shelves, maybe the task should be done when there are no customers around, especially if the robots have to be on the floor. 

But again, even in a conbini, customer service is still very important. Have a real live person at the check out area, and use the robots for stocking shelves and maybe not so much used for customer service.

Have a nice day and be safe!