After meeting Milly, we want to take her home with us.

Japanese convenience stores have been expanding their reach to other countries in recent years, and in Indonesia, Lawsons have been popping up all over the place. Now, rival chain Family Mart is increasing its stores as well, and it’s seeking to have an edge on the competition with a robot called Milly.

▼ This is the second Family Mart in Malang, the city where our reporter Aqil Gama Rahmansyah resides.

The first thing a customer will notice about this store is how clean and beautiful it is, and it’s much larger than a lot of the Family Marts you’d find in Tokyo, with plenty of parking out front and the shelves lined with products.

▼ This location even has tables, making it feel more like a cafe than a convenience store.

▼ At the back of the store there’s another cafe-like space, so you could easily hang out here for hours.

The cash register area is large, and you can order coffee and food from staff here, amplifying the cafe feel.

▼ Other interesting features are the dedicated ice freezer…

▼… and the selection of snack foods on the menu, which is more like something you’d see at McDonald’s or KFC.

▼ Other finds are more similar to what you’d see at a Family Mart in Japan, like the oden…

▼…and the fried food display, which may not contain any of the iconic Famichiki fried chicken, but has a good selection of items nonetheless.

▼ There are also sausages, sweet bread, and steamed buns.

Another nice feature is the fact that there are no plastic bags to be found here. Instead, customers who need something to carry their products in will receive a paper bag (at extra cost).

▼ Peering over the shelves, however, reveals what is perhaps the most unusual sight of all.

▼ This is the Famicafe Robot, which goes by the name “Milly“.

▼ Milly, the bartender robot, springs to life when an order is placed via the touch panel display.

It’s hard to capture what goes on behind the glass due to the reflections, but Milly is actually a robot arm that prepares your coffee by mimicking human movements that involve grabbing, pushing and carrying.

Milly might move slowly, but there’s a sense of charm to the movements that mesmerises the customers.

It’s fascinating to see the robot in action, and when your order is ready, the door slides down and Milly gives you a cute wave.

▼ Thanks, Milly!

It’s an amazing new addition to the Family Mart shopping experience, and now we’re keen to see it become a thing here in Japan. With 7-Eleven installing floating hologram cash registers in Tokyo, we’re overdue for some new high-tech wizardry in the convenience store world, so Family Mart, if you’re reading this — bring Milly to Tokyo! We’ll buy as many tubs of your cold noodles as we can to return the favour.

Related: Family Mart
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