Marketing 5.0

CHAPTER 7The New CX: Machines Are Cool, but Humans Are Warm

In 2015, the Henn-na Hotel in Japan opened what Guinness World Records officially recognized as the world's first robot-staffed hotel. Multilingual front-desk robots are equipped with facial recognition to help guests with check-in and checkout. A mechanical arm stores luggage at the reception. The robot concierge helps order taxis while the robot trolley brings baggage to rooms, and the housekeeping robot cleans the rooms. Most amenities are also high-tech. For instance, each room is equipped with a facial recognition door lock and in-room clothing steam closet.

Initially, the use of robots was a strategy of the hotelier to overcome the staff shortage in Japan. The expectation was that the minimum number of staff could run the hotel—keeping the labor cost down. But the robots created problems that frustrated guests, thus producing more work for the hotel staff to fix the issues. One example of a guest complaint was about an in-room tabletop robot that misunderstood snoring sounds for an inquiry and thus repeatedly woke up the sleeping guests. Consequently, the hotel cut back on automation and “fired” half of its robots.

This case highlights the limitation of full automation. Especially in the hospitality industry, which relies heavily on personal interactions, all-machine touchpoints may not be the best option after all. Not all tasks can be automated, as human connections are still indispensable. Robots are indeed ...