Happy Lemon deploys drink making robot in China
Taiwanese bubble-tea chain Happy Lemon has joined Koubei’s (Alibaba Group’s local services app) smart store programme.
At its pilot store in Shanghai, customers have the option of buying their drinks at a counter manned by employees or via their smartphones for service by a robot. They scan a QR code with the Koubei app, tick a few boxes to customise their drink, then wait for a text notification to pick up it up at a locker, which opens when they tap a “pick-up” button on the app.
“The initiative is part of our journey to bring New Retail to food and beverage merchants,” says Guo Haodang, Head of Koubei’s smart store programme. “We bring advanced technologies, such as our QR codes, intelligent pick-up lockers and robotic tea mixers, to merchants’ bricks and mortar stores, helping the sector rethink how they sell and engage with consumers.”
Happy Lemon is working with Koubei to replicate this model at more of its stores across China.