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Hongqi Chain ends robot unmanned retail system R&D; convenience-store robots still can't sell independently

After 16 months of R&D, Hongqi Chain has terminated development of its robot unmanned retail system. The company's announcement said the system has not yet met the standard for large-scale commercial deployment, and it is shifting to a 24-hour cloud-staffed operation business. An industry insider close to Hongqi said that in summer, condensation on glass-bottle cold drinks made the robot unable to grip them steadily, and it kept dropping and shattering them; it also could not reliably pick up goods in complex packaging, and operation was even harder when aisles were narrow and customers were nearby. In a robot retail warehouse visited by QbitAI, the robot only handled mobile picking, with each pick taking about 20-plus seconds, and human staff were still needed for restocking and charging. Several practitioners believe robot retail is still in the PoC stage.

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