Abstract
We live in an age of constant technological evolution where we witness an increasing need for adaptation, in view of market challenges. These transformations create interactions between human beings and machines. This article is a case study based on qualitative and quantitative research, which approaches the implementation of a robotized system in a retail convenience shop, at a petrol station. The main objective was to focus on understanding the applicability of this type of system in a shop, as well as to ascertain its future in the short, medium and long term. Field research performed involved a personal interview with an executive at the Portuguese firm PRIO Energy – the Director of Research, Development and Innovation. The essence of the interview was to enquire about the robot experiment and to understand how innovation occurs, and where the ideas come from. Two other firm employees were also contacted for their testimonials on the project – the convenience store manager and the project innovation manager. Light was shed on which phases the innovation project went through. Finally, the authors has access to the results of a consumer survey involving 210 customers, who interacted with the robot station during its test phase. While not all feedback was good, namely some consumers are concerned that robots will be replacing humans in the workplace, leading to unemployment; the vast majority of the 210 survey respondents saw the experience as positive and one which they would repeat in the future.
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Au-Yong-Oliveira, M., Garcia, J., Correia, C. (2020). Innovation and Robots in Retail - How Far Away Is the Future?. In: Rocha, Á., Adeli, H., Reis, L., Costanzo, S., Orovic, I., Moreira, F. (eds) Trends and Innovations in Information Systems and Technologies. WorldCIST 2020. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 1160. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45691-7_65
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45691-7_65
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