Softbank Pepper Sales Robot

A relook at the SoftBank humanoid Pepper robot.   Seems the test they mention that showed increases in sales is far too short, and could have largely been driven by publicized novelty.   In Recode:

SoftBank’s humanoid robot Pepper is improving sales at brick-and-mortar stores
Turns out people like to shop with robots.    By April Glaser

SoftBank, the Japanese company recently in the news for a meeting between its CEO and Donald Trump and its promise to invest $50 billion into U.S. tech companies, has been working to bring its humanoid robot Pepper to American markets for the past year.

And after launching a few pilots with Pepper helping customers in California retail stores in 2016, SoftBank says the robot actually pays off.

In one pilot at B8ta, a tech retail shop in Palo Alto where Pepper worked customer service for a week-long stint last August, SoftBank says the store clocked a 70 percent increase in foot traffic. At another pilot at a B8ta in Santa Monica in December, the store reported a 13 percent increase in revenue and a six-fold increase in sales of a featured product, according to SoftBank. ... "

SoftBank says there are already over 10,000 Pepper robots in use around the world, including at a Pizza Hut in Singapore, on cruise ships and even in homes across Japan. ....  " 

List of personal assistants examined