Lowe’s to rollout 5-foot tall, robotic shopping assistants this November

LAS VEGAS, NV - JANUARY 07: The Murata Girl and Boy robots are demonstrated at the Murata booth at the 2014 International CES at the Las Vegas Convention Center on January 7, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada. CES, the world's largest annual consumer technology trade show, runs through January 10 and is expected to feature 3,200 exhibitors showing off their latest products and services to about 150,000 attendees. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Say hello to the new shopping assistant at your local Lowe’s: a robot. The home improvement chain, which recently acquired Orchard Supply Hardware, will begin rolling out OSHbots in some California stores in late November.

Say hello to the new shopping assistant at your local Lowe’s: a robot. The home improvement chain, which recently acquired Orchard Supply Hardware, will begin rolling out OSHbots in some California stores in late November.

The the white 5-foot tall robotic shopping assistants will greet customers, ask if they need help and guide them to a product in either English or Spanish (more languages coming soon). In addition to language processing technology, the OSHbots are also equipped with two large video screens and a 3-D scanner for price checks. Lowe’s argues these robots will be solving a problem and marrying the best of e-commerce shopping convenience to a brick-and-mortar store.

Will consumers go for this, or could it be supremely creepy? Could this lead to a jolt of commerce for big box stores? And will this displace entry level jobs for humans?

Guest:

Richard Feinberg, consumer psychologist in the Department of Consumer Science at Purdue University

Lawrence Mishel, president of Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit think tank that focuses on economic issues. He is also a labor market economist.