Texas-based retailer McCoy’s Building Supply has deployed autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) to support the detection of out-of-stock (OOS) items and incorrectly priced items in its stores.
The robots reportedly operate with an accuracy rate of more than 95%, have helped decrease OOS items by more than 50% and improved price-tag accuracy by more than 97%.
A trial of the technology preceded the rollout.
McCoy’s Building Supply in based in San Marcos, Texas, with the AMRs being supplied by retail solutions provider Badger Technologies.
“We continually seek innovative ways to elevate customer service while removing operational obstacles for store associates,” said Waylon Walker, senior vice president, operations and merchandising for McCoy’s Building Supply.
“With Badger Technologies robots, we can eliminate manual, time-consuming inventory checks and attain real-time data to better address customer preferences and buying trends.”
McCoy’s storewide robotics rollout is currently underway, with local stores set to see daily updates on product availability and pricing for up to 50,000 Stock Keeping Units (SKUs) per location.
What’s more, the robots can, according to Badger, complete inventory shelf scans within two hours, freeing up store workers’ time, with this task previously taking up to 50 hours per week.
The company believes AMRs can be useful for addressing ongoing labour shortages across the US.
According to the US Chamber of Commerce, 1.9 million workers were absent from the labour force in 2023, compared to the same period three years ago.
What’s more, the robots can also be used to collect and correlate sell-through and pricing-trend data, along with data about how long and how frequently items have been out of stock, according to the bots’ supplier.
