A year ago, the world’s first robot “6S store” opened in Shenzhen’s Longgang district with only a handful of machines on the floor. On July 28, it celebrated its first anniversary by announcing nine commercialised application scenarios, a multi-channel digital sales system — and a national footprint of more than 20 stores.
The 6S concept extends the auto industry’s 4S dealership model (sales, service, spare parts, surveys) into robotics retail, adding scenario demonstration and solution consulting. Under Longgang’s “All in AI” strategy, the store has evolved from a showroom into what its operators call a mature embodied-AI commercialisation ecosystem.
The nine scenarios span banking services, robot combat sports, football-based STEM education, home services, regional culture and tourism tech, restaurant service, commercial cleaning, unmanned retail, and full-scenario intelligent applications. Their simultaneous rollout marks the store’s transition into scaled commercial operation.
Store CEO Lin Feng told reporters the past year tracked the industry’s own trajectory. “When we opened, there were only a few robots on site. This year the number has grown geometrically. Motion control has gone from stumbling to somersaults and boxing — it has become a system.”
The chain now operates more than 20 robot 6S stores across China, tiered by format: flagship stores above 2,000 square metres, standard stores around 1,500, and basic stores under 1,000.
The retail layer matters more than it looks. China’s robot makers have no shortage of hardware; what they lack is a distribution and after-sales interface for businesses and consumers who have never bought a robot. A standardised store network — with financing, training, maintenance and scenario consulting under one roof — is infrastructure for turning demos into purchase orders. That it started in Shenzhen, and scaled to 20 cities within a year, says as much about demand as it does about supply.
Read the original report (Shenzhen News Network)
*Translated and adapted from Shenzhen News Network (https://www.sznews.com/news/content/2026-07/29/content_32135724.htm).*