Swyft, a robotics- and software-enabled marketplace that works with brands, retailers, vending machine operators and enterprises to deploy scalable automated retail stores, has partnered with CVS to install robotic kiosks in hotels across the country.
The Swyft CVS Robotic Store offers items travelers need including medicine, and hygiene and grooming products. Data is gathered from 20,000 CVS brick-and-mortar locations and hundreds of Swyft robotic kiosks to create the product planogram, according to Gower Smith, president/cofounder, Swyft.
“Everyone has unexpected needs while traveling, either due to forgotten items or needs that occur while on the road,” he said. “This includes both leisure and business travelers. CVS Swyft stores fill that need perfectly.”
Guests have access to medicine, and hygiene and grooming products.
The kiosks are currently in multiple locations across U.S., including Hyatt Regency, Marriott Marquis, JW Marriott, Westin, Renaissance, Hilton, Intercontinental and Wyndham properties. Swyft is also working with several ownership groups that have multiple properties.
“Swyft’s hotel installations have grown exponentially during 2022 and 2023,” Smith said. “Its growth in airports, convention centers and other travel venues is running parallel with the hotel channel.”
Swyft is also launching its refrigerated robotic kiosk for hotels and airports that will offer 24/7 healthy food and drink items.
“We are currently focused on larger hotels,” Smith said. “However, with food and beverage combined with healthcare, we anticipate our service being viable for a larger number of hotels. Hotels linked to theme parks and attractions have been very successful, with the most recent being the Swan and the Dolphin hotels at Disney World.”
For hotel owners, the kiosks help boost guest satisfaction. The machines provide guests with a convenient and private way to get essential goods at an affordable price 24/7, eliminating the need to travel outdoors in an unfamiliar area or interact with someone about a private health matter.
“They are able to handle these needs on-site, from an attractive Swyftstore with one of the most trusted healthcare brands in the country, CVS,” Swift said. “We bring our CVS 24/7 stores to hotels with no investment required by the hotel. We manage everything turnkey for the hotel, and we share revenues with them.”
The experience couldn’t be easier for guests who simply select their items via touchscreen, pay and immediately receive them. There’s also an interactive component. Guests can learn more about the product they’re ordering through informative and colorful menus.
“Products are grouped by category to make ordering more efficient,” the Swyft president explained. “The guest can also see an item in the store window, select by item number, pay with a credit or debit card—or mobile payment—and the robotic system fetches and delivers the item within seconds. It’s a fast, easy and enjoyable purchase experience.”
Post-COVID, Swyft has noticed an increase in demand for this automated retail.
“Our hotel and travel partners have experienced increasing labor challenges and rising costs, and our systems eliminate theft without the need for labor,” he said. “That is combined with costs for our technology decreasing while inflation has driven costs up. All of these factors are contributing to very rapid growth.”
Travelers also prefer this type of immediate service, free of contact and without the hassle of long checkout lines.
“At this point, the vast majority of consumers are familiar with self-checkout technologies and Swyftstores’ unattended purchase experience is becoming familiar,” Smith said. “Also, our brands are the most trusted brands in the country, which makes buying decisions even easier.”
