มิถุนายน 11, 2024

Robots in retail: Why retail floor cleaning robots need remote capabilities

The appetite for data is insatiable now. It’s the one thing that all businesses can’t get enough of. Information is power, giving organizations the ability to make smarter and more impactful decisions across a range of activities and functions.

For the retail industry, where data points appear across the entirety of their supply chains, information gives brands visibility into their operations at multiple levels. And in the age of omnichannel retail, data helps stores service their customers more effectively at every touchpoint — online and in-store.

From streamlining inventory and order management to creating tailored online experiences, data helps retailers deliver a seamless shopping journey for their customers. In fact, the retail analytics market will reach nearly $24 billion by 2027, highlighting the importance brands are placing on information and insights to remain competitive.

But data in retail is about more than just customer buying preferences and worry-free tracking and delivery. Brands can also use data to satisfy customers in a less glamorous but equally important way: a clean store.

If your store is dirty, all the time and money you invest to get people through the door will count for nothing. And with retail foot traffic set to reach 2019 levels soon, delivering a clean shopping experience is paramount.

So, just like data can improve the shopping journey, it can also simplify and enhance your store’s cleaning process as well. And a crucial part involves using modern tools and technology with remote capabilities.

When floor space is vast, layouts complex, and employees work across different shifts and areas, an autonomous floor scrubber you can connect to remotely is a difference-maker. It also makes everyone’s job a lot easier.

Let’s explain the value of Avidbots Command Center’s remote capabilities.

Cloud-based fleet monitoring: Keeping you in the loop

When managing floor care in a busy retail facility, it doesn’t take much for something to go amiss. Keeping track of where, when, and how well your team cleaned multiple areas can be daunting. Without some way to stay on top of your cleaning operations, you could get lost in a maze of misinformation and data discrepancies.

Likewise, if you’re relying on word of mouth or paper checklists to fill in the blanks, mistakes are never far away either; unfortunately, each of these methods is susceptible to misreporting and human error.

However, when you use advanced cleaning equipment with software such as Avidbots Command Center (ACC) — technology that lets you monitor, manage, and measure your cleaning operations remotely and in real time — numerous things happen. And one key part of ACC’s magic is your ability to monitor your robot(s).

Avidbots Command Center expands your situational awareness regardless of where you are. The web-based app lets you keep up to date wherever and whenever you need that information. It gives you a bird’s-eye view of the status and location of your store’s entire cleaning function.

Whether you’re offsite or finished for the day, Avidbots Command Center’s remote capabilities help you stay on top of things. Even better, you can see with your own eyes where your autonomous floor scrubber cleaned and when. But that’s not the only benefit.

Kas and Neo’s historical cleaning records give you proof to back up the data. This ability to both measure and verify your cleaning operations is an important management tool. 

Indeed, digital cleaning records are less prone to loss, damage, and tampering than their paper counterparts. So, that Avidbots’ solution ensures you won’t lose access to all these data points — and progress — is a huge benefit; you never know when this information may come in handy.

And with greater awareness comes wiser decision making. Up-to-date cleaning data gives you actionable insights into your facility. It helps you identify the most efficient and productive way to manage your store’s cleanliness needs, so your retail facility is always presenting the best, cleanest version of itself.

These are just a few examples of how Avidbots Command Center removes some of the headaches of keeping your store clean.

Remote Assistance: A helping hand when you need it most

Floor care and surface disinfection are 24-hour jobs for most retail facilities. Without careful attention, messes accumulate quickly.

But what happens when your automatic floor scrubber runs into trouble? A crucial tool in your custodial toolbox, your team can’t function as effectively without them.

There’s a time for troubleshooting and moments where you need to be up and running immediately. During active hours, pressing the pause button on your cleaning operation isn’t an option. And in the customer-facing world of retail operations, the effects of unavailable cleaning equipment can be severe.

Health and safety concerns, negative public perceptions around cleanliness, productivity bottlenecks, and more, cleaning downtime can have serious consequences to your business and your brand.

But without the ability to receive guidance and assistance when and where you need it, your store’s cleaning operations are in limbo while you wait. And by the time you connect with the right person and receive the help you need, you’re already feeling the effects.

That’s why Avidbots’ Remote Assistance service is a game changer.

With Remote Assistance, help is on stand-by, poised to assist in your hour of need. Instead of scrambling to figure out what’s wrong, Avidbots’ virtual experts do the work for you.

Knowledgeable Avidbots techs, who know your floor cleaning robot inside and out, can resolve issues quickly and efficiently. What’s more, using the robot’s cameras and onboard diagnostics, in some cases our dedicated team can resolve the issue there and then.

For example, maybe your store’s floor plan and layout experienced sudden and significant changes, or perhaps a new object is blocking a path. 

Major alterations to a robot’s working environment will result in stoppages, causing the robot to eventually get stuck. This problem affects all cleaning robots.

However, while competing options succumb to this issue, Avidbots Command Center makes it an afterthought. Where Neo and Kas differentiate themselves is the ability for Avidbots to remotely get you up and running. A quick update to your cleaning plan is a virtual call away, saving you time, resources, and lost productivity. 

From unexpected stoppages to remote diagnostics, Avidbots’ Remote Assistance service is there to lift you up when the unexpected drags you down.

Autonomous floor scrubbers with remote features: An ideal match

Improve the quality, consistency, and affordability of floor cleaning at your facility without the added hassle or costs. Avidbots Command Center’s remote capabilities give you back one of your most precious resources: your time.

Make clever, more effective decisions about when and where to clean. Better yet, remove the annoyance of double-checking whether every inch of floor space received the care it deserved.

And when the unexpected happens, reduce the headaches — and downtime — any time your cleaning equipment gets lost, stuck, or stops working.  

An easier way to manage your team and your cleaning operations as a whole, Kas and Neo’s remote capabilities ensure you’re never left spinning your wheels.

Interested in a smarter, more efficient way to clean? Contact us today to learn more.