Following successful pilots that improved in-store efficiencies and freed employees up to better serve customers, Giant Food Stores has announced the introduction of a new robotic assistant to all of its 172 stores.

“Marty,” a tall gray robot with googly eyes, will soon be working alongside associates, thanks to a partnership between Ahold Delhaize USA services company Retail Business Services, Giant, and Jabil subsidiary Badger TechnologiesTM.

Over the past year, Giant has been piloting Marty and the in-store robotic program in its stores at 4211 Union Deposit Road, Harrisburg and 255 Spring Garden St., Carlisle.

“Bringing robotics and AI from a research lab to the sales floor has been a very exciting journey, and we were thrilled by the customer response in our pilot stores,” Giant Food Stores President Nicholas Bertram said.

“Our associates have worked hard to bring this innovation to life with amazing partners.”

The in-store robots, which move around the store unassisted, are being used to identify hazards, such as liquid, powder and bulk food-items spills and provide reporting that enables quick corrective action.

The robots’ efforts free up associates to spend more time serving customers.

They also help stores mitigate risk caused by such spills.

Giant will be deploying Marty to its 172 Giant and Martin’s Food Markets stores in waves over the coming months with expected completion slated for mid-2019.