5 Robotics Predictions For Retail Automation Sector In 2021

 Retail industry has faced enormous number of challenges last year due to the COVID situation. Although they have recovered a little with extreme effort and effective strategies, but things have not yet fell into place properly. Also, the issues experienced during the pandemic instigated a major wake up call for the retailers.

Reviewing these issues, experts came up with nine new robotics predictions that can automate the retail industry in a better way.

Robotics Predictions For The Retail Industry

Amid the critical scenario, pandemic offered a major opportunity to robotics firms in the logistics and grocery spaces, emphasized the need for greater supply chain efficiencies, and highlighted several workforce constraints.

Let’s find out how the lessons of 2020 help us shape the trends in robotics sector in 2021 -

1.    Robots will help to pinpoint exact product location

Autonomous robots took on more expensive roles in stores and warehouses during the pandemic, and that’s why the retail industry counts on it today, in 2021. As per the tech blog sites in India, robotics is going to gain momentum inside the retail industry in the near future. Especially in large retail environments, where thousands of items are involved, it is a big challenge to pinpoint a product’s exact location. But with robotics, this issue can be resolved. Also, robotics acts as a major productivity boosted in these large retail environments.

2.    Multipurpose robots will enable multitasking

Till date, automation solutions have largely been task-specific. But that’s entirely a thing of the past, and today, everything has upgraded a lot! In 2021, multipurpose autonomous robots can easily handle different chores, often referred to as ‘payloads’. These payloads are programmed to address varying requirements, which comprise of hazard detection, inventory management, surface disinfectants, security checks, etc. According to the IT blog sites in India, the retailers in future will have increased options for mixing/matching automated workflows to meet specific operational needs.

3.    Independent grocers will adopt robots to increase automation speed

For the better part of the last decade, it has been found that robots have made their way to mid-and-small-sized businesses, especially the grocery stores. Even the bodegas, which have been recently included in the major chains, are one crowning point in this migration process.

This was going great, but a new trend has been identified by the tech blog sites in India in the latter part of 2020 --- in comparison to the larger retail entities, independent and regional grocers are quickly adopting robotics in their process to enhance agility in the environment and increase the automation speed. This is because they are keen to have greater freedom of trialling new technologies and implement automation wherever possible.

4.    Robots will resolve the labour-shortage issue

The 2020 pandemic has been a pathetic year for the labour market. The retail companies had to opt-in for layoffs because of the budget crisis, and also because they were shutdown for quite a while. But this led them to resource crisis in 2021. So, what can be the potential solution?

As the labour market continues to tighten, retailers now look for ways to automate previously manual and mundane tasks. As per the IT blog sites in India, multipurpose robots shine when it comes to oft-dreaded shelf scans, performing scans in hours instead of days and with up to 95% accuracy.

Let’s face it employees are never interested in performing mind-numbing, tedious tasks, so it’s better to let the robots do the same, while you can employ your resources for other chores.

5.    Sensors, drones are going to be ideal robot accessories

In 2021, it's highly likely that autonomous robots will be teamed with other in-store technologies, such as fixed cameras, drones and all types of sensors, to enhance data-collection capabilities. It's all about attaining real-time visibility, especially in those hard to reach, hard to see places. A bevy of sensors will enhance a robot's "sensing" abilities, including detection of certain gases emitted when foods lose freshness or are stored improperly.

Wrapping up

An increases frequency of mergers and acquisitions in the grocery sector will remain in the forecast. It is believed that these five predictions will have the frontage in 2021, and will take the primary seat eventually. If you are from the retail industry, it’s essential for you to read these predictions and prepare for the same. Make sure you are financially and functionally ready to adopt the emerging technological trend.