Robots in retail: Three possible futures including 'Star Wars'

The presence of robots continues growing in retail, but where will it all lead?

Robotics is one of the most exciting, promising, and quickly evolving areas of retail technology. Robots are taking on an increasing number of roles, including tasks for which many retailers are currently struggling to find enough human employees (including driving and warehouse work).

And we’re only at the beginning of the robotic age in retail. Here is a look at three ways the use of robots may develop in retail, from a pervasive presence to one that may utilize other technologies to do some of the things robots are doing right now. 

"Star Wars"

One possible future for robots in retail – and the best for lovers of AI and automation, is what I would call a “Star Wars” scenario. Human-like robots such as the Agility Robotics bipendal robot known as “Digit” which Amazon has been testing to help employees with tote recycling would routinely work alongside and potentially in place of humans in stores as well as in the supply chain.

In addition, self-driving vehicles would be the norm and drones or surface-traveling robots would execute most deliveries. Robots would be fully integrated into retail as well as every other facet of society, leading to an integrated human-mechanical environment like that of the “Star Wars” films.

While it’s hard to say what the more distant future may hold, in the short term this scenario is highly unlikely. Retailers have previously tested human-like robotic store associates and in the U.S., they have not taken off. Clearly, robots are here to stay, but a future out of science fiction is less likely than one of these two possible outcomes:

Like now, but more robots

Currently, robots have a strong presence in retail, particularly in the back end where retailers like Walmart are developing a robotics-centric supply chain model and Chipotle are using robots to streamline food prep. 

On the front end, stores and shopping centers are slowly seeing an increase in robots performing tasks such as counting inventory, cleaning floors, patrolling for security, and serving food and drinks. And drones and self-driving vehicles are growing in popularity as delivery vehicles.

[READ MORE: Smarter store labor: Six key benefits of retail robots]

As opposed to a science fiction outcome where robots become a fixture of everyday life and increasingly human-like, this scenario basically envisions a retail environment not that different from the one we have now, except robots doing things like distributing inventory on the back end and keeping the floors shiny on the front end would become the norm instead of "cutting-edge."

Like now, but fewer robots

As society in general becomes more roboticized, a future featuring fewer retail robots than are currently deployed seems far-fetched. And this is admittedly the least likely scenario, but it is not impossible given the right set of circumstances.

These would be the continuing advancement of mobile, Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence technologies to enable humans equipped with mobile devices to perform a greater number of tasks more efficiently.

For example, an employee with an AI-equipped app that reads signals given off by shelf or product tags could take store inventory as easily as a scanning robot, or AI-enabled smart cameras could identify potential security incidents and immediately notify human personnel via text. 

There would still be plenty of robots in this scenario, especially performing manual tasks such as driving vehicles or loading and unloading pallets, but humans with technology-enhanced capabilities would actually "replace" the robots in some enterprise workflows.