New Comer in the Bakery Store: A Long-Term Exploratory Study Toward Design of Useful Service Robot Applications

Abstract In this study, we report a 6-month empirical study on a service robot deployed in a bakery shop. Recently, potential applications of service robots have been increasingly explored. However, further empirical knowledge is required to determine the optimal approach to design service robots for useful applications. We also address “usefulness” from two perspectives: the effects of a robot on customers’ shopping behavior and the practical benefits the robot could provide for human workers in its working environment. The results show that our robot achieved long-term effects on product recommendations for customers who visited the bakery store on a regular basis (weekly) but not for other customers. A thematic analysis of the interviews reflected the practical values that the staff expected from the robot. Based on these findings, we we outline key considerations for designing effective long-term service robot applications.