Running a store is not easy – far from it. There is a whole lot of items for you to think about, ranging from staffing issues to stock count and the like. Thankfully, technology has made life a whole lot easier in recent times, and Simbe Robotics has stepped forward with their Tally autonomous robot. Autonomy is a good thing if it is done right, although it can be rather disastrous if it turns belly up. Having said that, Tally should not run into too many issues, since its main function is to scan store shelves and inform workers as to know which goods are running low on stock, out of stock, as well as being misplaced.
This would then require the human worker to get right to the issue without having to go through aisle by aisle, performing the scan manually. Of course, Tally will still be unable to check out the hidden stashes that some people love to do – that is, to “reserve” something that they like behind a row of other items to pick them up later.
Tally will obviously be able to keep to normal business hours, and sports a charging dock that is reminiscent of that of a Roomba’s, allowing itself to juice up should it run low on battery power in mid-shift. It is being tested at the moment at a handful of North American retailers, so it might be some time before you actually see Tally in action, tallying up whatever stock there are left on the shelves.
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