‘Roboduck’ welcomes customers in Belgian bathroom store

Belgian bathroom specialist X²O has opened its fiftieth showroom, a flagship store with a refreshed store concept that allows the retailer to focus on digital innovation – and introduces a smart robot.

Inspiration boxes

The milestone fiftieth showroom was an excellent occasion for X²O to update its store concept, in collaboration with interior designer Bart Appeltans. The latter had already designed a fully equipped and inspiring bathroom box, which was used in the X²O showrooms and during trade fairs. Several of these inspiration boxes will appear in Oudenaarde, built according to different interior styles. In this way, X²O wants to help customers choose a new bathroom.

Moreover, as a pilot project, a smart rubber duck will appear in the store: the Duckybot is a robot that can welcome customers, answer questions and refer them to the right department. Although robots have been used in hospitals and hospitality businesses for some time, this had not yet been the case in the Belgian retail sector, says X²O Bathrooms.