On March 15, 2026, Henan’s first humanoid robot 4S store officially opened in Zhengzhou. Since its soft launch at the end of January this year, the store’s rental business has remained extremely popular. It features products from brands including Unitree, Agibot, and Leju. In addition to exhibition, rental, and sales, the store also provides supporting services such as data collection, scenario training, model iteration, and after-sales operation and maintenance. According to staff, many enterprises rent robots for short-term events, resulting in strong rental demand.
This is not an isolated case. As sorted out by Intelligent Manufacturing Network, robot 4S stores have been entering markets across the country in various business formats since 2026.
On March 3, a experience store named Mech Eden opened inside a Mercedes-Benz 4S store in Chaoyang District, Beijing. Backed by Yizhuang Robot Mall, the store integrates robot exhibition, sales, and after-sales services with the car sales scenario. Reports indicate that since opening, the store has boosted the overall passenger flow of the auto 4S store by 15% month-on-month.
On March 14, Yangzhou’s first robot 4S store — Yangzhou Zhijing Robot Technology Co., Ltd. — opened for business. The store introduces products from multiple brands including Unitree Robotics, Agibot, and Deep Robotics, covering humanoid robots, quadruped robots, industrial robotic arms, and other categories. It offers a “daily rental” service for enterprise clients to use on a short-term basis for annual meetings, exhibitions, shopping mall traffic generation, and other scenarios.
From Beijing to Yangzhou and then to Zhengzhou, these offline stores modeled after automobile 4S shops are building public-facing exhibition, sales, and rental channels for humanoid and quadruped robots.
Notably, this layout actually began in 2025. On August 8, 2025, the world’s first embodied intelligent robot 4S store opened in Yizhuang, Beijing. Covering over 4,000 square meters, it hosts more than 50 robot products from over 40 manufacturers including Agibot, Unitree, and Ubtech, with a supporting robot-themed restaurant. In October, the store launched a co-construction program, attracting over 30 industrial chain enterprises to sign up. Within just two months of opening, it secured intentional orders worth 63 million yuan. In November, Hunan’s first robot 4S store opened in Wangcheng District, Changsha, adopting a “store in front, factory behind” model to provide one-stop services from scenario exhibition to customized solutions. At the end of December, Version 2.0 of the Yizhuang robot 4S store in Beijing also officially debuted as scheduled.
The successive launch of robot 4S stores is exerting multi-faceted impacts on the industry:
First, it lowers the threshold for robot application. The “rent-to-buy” model allows enterprises to trial robots in specific scenarios at a low cost, facilitating the cultivation of the downstream application market.
Second, it improves the after-sales service system. Stores not only sell hardware but also provide services such as charging and maintenance, software upgrades, and parts replacement, transforming robots from one-time sale products into sustainable service carriers.
Third, it accelerates user education and market popularization. Offline stores offer the public opportunities to access and learn about robots. Meanwhile, data generated from robots’ real-world applications can also provide references for the iteration of algorithm models.
Conclusion
From the pilot initiative in Yizhuang, Beijing last year to the rollout across multiple cities including Zhengzhou, Yangzhou, and Beijing this year, robot 4S stores are rapidly integrating into the urban commercial landscape. This trend indicates that robots are moving from laboratories and factories into broader social scenarios.
With the gradual improvement of the channel network and continuous exploration of business models, robots are expected to become everyday tech products accessible, experienceable, and usable by ordinary people, just like home appliances and smart cars. As more and more robot 4S stores open in urban commercial districts and blend into community life, a robot era with even greater imaginative potential is accelerating toward us.
