From EVs to everyday Robots: China’s next big thing for marketers to watch

By Mark Tanner*

China’s increasing dominance in the EV space has caught many by surprise. Xiaomi sold 300,000 SUVs in 72 hours. In Europe, BYD now sells 50% more cars than Tesla. In Australia last month, four Chinese brands ranked in the top ten bestsellers. Globally, BYD has already overtaken Ford, becoming the world’s sixth-largest automaker by sales.

While Chinese EVs soak up the limelight, Beijing is quietly nurturing another frontier where its engineering, tech and manufacturing muscle could soon make waves: robots.

From Online Bots to Household Helpers

Almost every Skinny reader is familiar with chatbots, but physical robots are creeping into everyday life as well. Around 15% of US households now own a robot vacuum, a category where China dominates the global leaderboard. The top four cleaning robot brands are now all Chinese, with Roborock and Ecovacs together accounting for almost a third of sales.

And much like EVs, China is driving falling prices for robots. Humanoid robots that cost over $10,000 just a few years ago can now be found for as little as $5,500, thanks to advances from players like Fourier Intelligence and Unitree. At a recent robot festival in Beijing, consumers spent over ¥330 million (NZ$80m) on 19,000 robots.

Policy Tailwinds and Everyday Integration

Beijing has been explicit about making robotics a national priority. Subsidies, city-level pilot zones, and R&D incentives are speeding up the ecosystem. At this month’s CIFTIS trade fair, robots were everywhere. Boxing robots traded blows, AI-powered tennis coaches using high-def cameras analyzed player form, and robotic arms prepared food samples with uncanny precision.

As robot tech improves and cost decrease, they are increasingly finding their way into all sorts of consumer applications and the processes supporting them. Some common examples include:

• Hospitality: Robots deliver dishes to tables and restaurants like Haidilao and entertain kids at tourist sites. Most hotels are now the same, using bots to deliver the onslaught of food delivery.

• Healthcare: Surgical-assist robots from Chinese firms like Tinavi are being adopted in top hospitals.

• Logistics: JD.com and Cainiao are rolling out fleets of autonomous delivery bots across campuses and communities.

• Education & Eldercare: Companion robots are appearing in classrooms and care facilities, filling gaps in understaffed sectors.

Different uses for robots will further accelerate as more robot manufacturers follow Unitree’s lead by opensourcing its world model-action architecture to foster a broader developer ecosystem. With each additional application, consumers become more familiar and accepting of robots, and by proxy, marketing initiatives that increase efficiency, novelty or personalisation.

Marketing Implications

Marketers should be viewing the adoption of robots as new potential consumer touchpoints, alongside the shifting expectations that they bring such as:

1. Everyday Brand Interactions: Just as EV dashboards and smart fridges are becoming media and commerce hubs, household and service robots could become conduits for brand engagement, whether recommending a detergent mid-clean or suggesting healthier recipes as they prep meals.

2. A trusted part of the customer journey: As consumers rely on and trust robots for increasing parts of daily life, they are likely to seek product recommendations and purchases from their bots. Brands should aim to integrate seamlessly into the robots sphere of consideration, not just the consumers’.

3. Sector Disruption: Service categories from retail to fitness to healthcare will need new playbooks. Just one example could be gyms offering robot-led fitness training who may recommend protein powder or health supplements as part of the experience. Similarly, cooking demos in supermarkets could become a much more scalable, consistent and cost effective route to encourage trial.

With consumers already accustomed to smart ecosystems, China is likely to be the first mainstream market where robots slip into daily life. As we saw Douyin, social commerce strategies followed globally through Tiktok, and brands are likely to learn many marketing strategies and tactics for robots that they can apply as robot adoption follows in other markets.

*Mark Tanner is the CEO of China Skinny, a marketing consultancy in Shanghai. This article was first published here, and is re-posted with permission.