With autonomous serving robots now available for purchase at convenience stores, expectations are high that cutting-edge robots will become more widely available to local self-employed business owners.

GS25, a convenience store operated by GS Retail, announced on the 21st that it will be the first in the industry to sell the AI autonomous serving robot 'Irion' at approximately 9,000 GS25 stores in the metropolitan area starting this month, in partnership with Polaris 3D, a robotics company selected as a robotics company for the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' 'Super Gap Startup 1000+ Project'.

Irion is a domestically produced robot that serves food, including liquids, without shaking, thanks to the vibration control and AI embedded technologies of Polaris 3D, which holds 13 patents related to autonomous driving technology.

The background behind GS25's introduction of this product is to provide convenience and benefits to local self-employed business owners by increasing the purchasing convenience of cutting-edge robots as the number of self-employed business owners without employees gradually increases from 4.19 million in August 2020 to 4.33 million in August 2022 and the distribution of kiosks and serving robots expands.

GS25 also plans to expand its ESG win-win management to the advanced industry sector by actively developing sales channels for domestic small and medium-sized enterprises that have advanced technology but relatively low brand recognition compared to Chinese robots.

GS25 will be piloting Irion until July at GS25 DX LAB stores, which are expanding and researching the digital customer experience enjoyed offline. It also serves as a showroom for cutting-edge AI robot products.

A special event is also in the works. Self-employed business owners who purchase Irion at GS25 until the end of September can enjoy a 3 million won discount, and can also take advantage of a 36-month rental plan, which is less burdensome than a lump-sum purchase.

Kim Hyung-gon, MD of GS25’s service planning team, said, “The Irion AI serving robot will go down in history as one of the most innovative service products GS25 has ever offered,” adding, “Through this, we will continue to provide purchasing convenience to local small business owners and pursue meaningful projects that open up sales channels for Korea’s small and medium-sized enterprises.”