Retail Inventory Robots Could Replace the Need for Store Employees

There are currently many industries that will likely be replaced with robots in the coming future, and with retail being one of the biggest industries across the world, it is no wonder that robots will slowly begin taking people's jobs. A robot named Tory will perform inventory tasks throughout stores, as well as have the capability of directing customers to where what they are looking for is.

Essentially, a customer will type in a product into the robot's interactive touch screen, and it will start driving to the exact location. It will also conduct inventory using RFID scanners, and overall, it will make the retail process much more efficient. Check out the video below from the German Robotics company Metre Labs who are behind the retail robot.

Metre Labs currently has around 200 of its robots doing various tasks all throughout the service industry, and they are hoping to expand even further with Tory. The retail bot stands about 5 feet tall and 1.5 feet wide according to Vocativ, so it will be able to zip through even the thinnest of isles. Don't worry about the robot dying in the middle of the shopping floor either, when it is low on power, it will automatically return to its charging dock.

The inventory skills of this robot cannot be matched, as it can scan 250 RFID codes per second from up to 26 feet away. This would beat even Usain Bolt running through the store checking tags really fast, and no retail employee stands a chance at outworking Tory. Since Tory is so fast at inventory as well, it allows managers to keep a constant log of what is in stock, and what isn't, almost down to the minute.

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This robot is just the meager beginnings of what will soon be a full takeover of robots in much of the service industry. This, of course, means bad things for the millions of people who make their living in the retail and service industries, but jobs will likely be created in other new industries to keep humans busy. As the age of the robots is soon upon us, we face a changing economy that will look a lot more robotic.