Selfridges highlights the role of robots in retail

Selfridges, a chain of high-end department stores in the United Kingdom, has launched an experimental pop-up store at its Oxford Street, London location that envisions an ‘earth-conscious shop of the future’. Called Supermarket, it features among others, a 2.3-meter high ABB 3D printing robot, which prints a variety of personalised designer objects made from Parley Ocean Plastic – plastic material derived from marine debris collected through Parley’s Global Cleanup network. The exhibition space will also display designer products, including 3D printed Paul Gaultier shoes and Iris van Herpen dresses, new ownership concepts and non-fungible token (NFT) artwork, which is available to purchase in store. The exhibition, which will run through 30 April is intended to spark thoughts and conversation around consumption and physical ownership, according to Emma Kidd, Selfridges Acting Creative Director,

The 3D printing demonstration is showcasing the Parley AIR Station /  Blueprint  Module which uses ABB’s RobotStudio simulation software and an IRB 6700 robot, together with Spanish design firm Nagami’s plastic extruder to create a curated selection of furniture and homeware from Nagami made from Parley Ocean Plastic. These can be selected by customers on a screen and made to order on the premises. Parlay's system offers an end-to-end solution for  PET plastic waste on islands and in remote regions, as marine plastic debris is sorted, cleaned and processed on-site to create 3D printed furniture, objects and building structures made from this material.

Here, the idea is to challenge consumers to think about how the goods they purchase are produced and the impact of this production on the environment.

“While expanded choice is great for consumers, it also comes at a cost to the environment, with products and packaging often being discarded with little thought about where they end up or whether they get recycled,” said Marc Segura, ABB’s Robotics Division President. “By re-using plastic from the world’s oceans to print designer objects, we help to highlight the important contribution of robots in creating the sustainable manufacturing processes central to a circular economy.”

"Working with two industry leaders, ABB and Nagami, we can now print on demand anywhere in the world to turn a problem into a solution,” said Parley founder and CEO Cyrill Gutsch. “Beyond the huge potential for reducing waste by printing directly inside retail locations like Selfridges, we want to use this technology to empower local communities across the globe – giving them the tools to turn local plastic pollution into business opportunities and useful objects.”

The demonstration will also help to highlight the wider potential of robotic automation in helping retailers attract customers into their stores, with market research company Coherent Market Insights estimating a 30 percent growth in the uptake of robots in retail by 2028. Robots could handle in-store micro-fulfilment operations, freeing up staff for people-facing roles, said Segura. Or they could be used on the shop floor to enable personalised production of goods at the point of consumption, as demonstrated by the installation at Selfridges.

Already, an ABB robotic demo at German fashion retailer Solebox’s store in Berlin shows how this can work. A robot picks shoes selected by customers from a screen. If the shoe doesn’t fit or the customer would like to try something else, the robot picks it up from the drawer and returns it to the shelf. In China, a retail kiosk developed by Huawei in conjunction with ABB allows customers to collect a range of devices including smartphones and tablets. The kiosk uses ABB’s FlexBuffer system to select devices either ordered online or purchased onsite. Once selected, the products are placed into a collection drawer for the customer to take away.