Robot manicure shakes up multibillion dollar nail industry

What industry will robots revolutionize next? Try the beauty business. And in particular, manicures.

Boston Consulting Group projects the market for all professional services robots, including the manicure bots, to grow significantly in the coming years and reach $170 billion by 2030. Retailers, meanwhile, are starting to incorporate robots and artificial intelligence inside stores.

For instance: Clockwork, the company behind the first manicure robot, recently reached a deal with Target (TGT) to include its robots in six U.S. locations, including stores in Texas, California and Minnesota.

Clockwork’s manicure robot is the first of its kind. The machine uses AI and 3D technology to figure out the size and shape of the user’s nails, and paints them in under 10 minutes.

The partnership is a win-win for Target and its shoppers, according to former Toys ‘R’ Us CEO and retail consultant Jerry Storch. He told Yahoo Finance that retailers need to place a bigger emphasis on the customer experience in order to increase store traffic and succeed.

“The more fun added to the store environment, the better it is. I applaud Target for doing it,” Storch said. “This is something clever and fun.”

And Target is far from the only retailer interested in Clockwork’s AI-enabled robots. Clockwork CEO Renuka Apte told Yahoo Finance that demand for the machine is ‘very strong’ and requests for the robot are coming from all over the world.

“We’re pushing tens of thousands of partnership requests at this point,” Apte said. “Most of the contracts we’re signing today are for next year… We are backed up due to very strong demand.” (Apte wouldn’t disclose the cost of the manicure-bots.)

“From dentists to retail — everyone is saying this makes sense in our location,” Apt added. “Our rule of thumb has always been to be where people already are, and where they’re spending most of their time.”

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