[THE INVESTOR] Korea’s leading discount store chain operator E-mart said on May 9 it has launched a test operation of a robot to provide automated concierge service to shoppers.

The proof of concept for the “robot concierge,” dubbed Pepper, will be operated at one of the E-mart outlets in Seoul for about three weeks, the company said.

The 1.2-meter robot, developed by Japan’s Softbank Robotics, provides product information, introduces sale items and gives answers to frequently asked questions, E-mart said.

The release came less than a month after the firm unveiled an autonomous shopping cart, eli, for a four-day test run at its warehouse-style supermarket Traders in Hanam, just southeast of the capital city.

  By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldcorp.com)