Emart using live robot demos to increase in-store traffic, with mixed results

Audiences watch the Unitree G1 robot in action at the Emart Yeongdeungpo store in western Seoul. [CHO YONG-JUN]

 
When a humanoid robot approached a crowd to say hello on Saturday, hundreds of customers at Electro Mart, an electronics retailer, responded enthusiastically — reaching out for handshakes. Nearby, a four-legged, doglike robot charmed the audience by behaving like a playful puppy on stage, while another robot called Sense Robot Go challenged customers to games of omok, a traditional Korean five-in-a-row game played on a Go board. While it may not be a scene from CES 2026, it certainly felt like one — all inside an ordinary electronics store in Seoul.
 

Robot Store at Emart Yeongdeungpo in western Seoul. [CHO YONG-JUN]

 
Emart opened its Robot Store on Jan. 31 as a section in the retailer’s consumer electronics-focused brick-and-mortar brand Electro Mart in Yeongdeungpo District in western Seoul, a first for a Korean major chain. As more and more customers are buying groceries and produce via e-commerce platforms, brick-and-mortar stores are striving to offer new and high-tech experiences in physical stores. The section features 14 robots, ranging from a humanoid to a device that scans people’s faces to read how much stress they have.
 

Related Article

• Boston Dynamics' Atlas robot moves more like a gymnast than machine in new footage

• Robot adoption to see rough road ahead as experts warn of labor disputes, strikes and boycotts

• Dyson rolls out AI-powered robot vacuum in bid to break Chinese dominance in Korea

 

The Unitree G1 humanoid robot at the Robot Store in Emart Yeongdeungpo in western Seoul. [CHO YONG-JUN]

 
The robot greeting visitors was the 31 million won ($21,000) Chinese-made Unitree G1, alongside the 4.76 million won of the Go2 robot dog, also made by Unitree. 
 
The humanoid had previously earned global fame when Elon Musk mentioned the G1 to be “impressive” on his X account, quoting a video of the humanoid robots demonstrating synchronized dancing on stage and performing front flips. 
 
While a Shenzhen-based firm released a video of a trained Unitree G1 robot that could wipe tables, take out garbage and water plants, the 31 million won humanoid in Emart wasn't capable of doing much in the way of household chores, at least not out of the box.
 
However, adults were amazed by the robot's movements, with some saying they would buy the humanoid if it could do some of the housework. 
 

The Unitree G1 humanoid robot at the Robot Store in Emart Yeongdeungpo in western Seoul. [CHO YONG-JUN]

 
“Wow, I would buy the humanoid robot in a heartbeat if it could do my household chores just a little bit,” Kim Jeong-sook, who came to see the robot demonstration with her daughter and her granddaughter, said. “At 30 million won, if it can do some household work for me, I think it would be better for me to buy this than a car.” 
 
The two robots are on display every day, at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 4 p.m. and 7 p.m., with each demo lasting more than 10 minutes, which was frankly enough to see all the simple moves done by the robots many times. When this reporter visited the store on a Saturday, over 100 customers, including kids, families and couples, began gathering 10 minutes before the show began at 4 p.m. Kids watching the demonstration expressed their surprise, with one young boy bursting into tears in fear of the robot dog.
 

The Unitree Go2 robot on display at the Robot Store in Emart Yeongdeungpo in western Seoul. [CHO YONG-JUN]

 
While the show generated a lot of interest, many in the audience left the scene before the end of the demonstration, as it was a mere repeat of the two robots doing the same simple maneuvers. 
 
Sense Robot Go’s main specialty is to play Go with human users or to play the board game online by connecting with a player somewhere else in the world. But because a Go game is quite complicated and lengthy, the robot on stage was set to omok mode. Also known as gomoku in Japanese, the game has two players putting a stone each turn, aiming to connect five stones without obstruction.
 
When a human player places their stone, the robot identifies the placement and counters it with its own move. When the game is done, the robot also helps you clean up the board, separating black and white stones.
 

Customers play with Sense Robot Go at the Robot Store in Emart Yeongdeungpo in western Seoul. [CHO YONG-JUN]

 
“It’s quite neat and frankly, fascinating,” said Kim Tae-young, who came with his girlfriend, after playing with the Go robot, adding that he specifically came to Electro Mart to see the humanoids in action, but was unable to witness the session that day. But when asked about a potential purchase, he replied, “No, I won’t buy it, it’s way too expensive."
 
Other customers were also into trying out robot pets and kids’ robots, trying to communicate with robots through voice commands.
 
SK intellix’s “wellness robot,” which is shaped like a fancy air purifier but moves around with wheels, also caught many people's attention. The robot, actually equipped with air purification features, is designed to move around the room and purify the air “without blind spots,” according to the company.
 
While the Namuh X robot didn't move like the other robots, being stationary on its dock, it allowed customers to scan their faces for condition diagnostics. After a fast scan, the robot came up with facial temperatures, stress levels, pulse levels, blood oxygen and heart rate.
 

Customers gather up at the Robot Store in Emart Yeongdeungpo in western Seoul to watch Unitree's robot demonstration. [CHO YONG-JUN]

 
Emart said it came up with the idea of opening a section dedicated to robots because it wanted customers to experience these trendsetting products in an exclusive setting. 
 
"We actually began preparing the Robot Store in mid-2025, well before CES 2026," an Emart spokesperson said. 
 
However, customers planning to visit Emart just to see all the robots in action should check with the store prior to their arrival, as the demos were unavailable during this reporter’s initial weekday visit as the robots were charging.
 

A sign at the Robot Store at Emart Yeongdeungpo in western Seoul shows that there are no demonstration sessions for the day. [CHO YONG-JUN]

BY CHO YONG-JUN [cho.yongjun1@joongang.co.kr]