From stopping to shopping: An observational study comparing a humanoid service robot with a tablet service kiosk to attract and convert shoppers

•The POS conversion funnel is introduced to examine the effectiveness of POS communication tools.•The impact of a humanoid service robot (HSR) is compared to a tablet service kiosk (TSK).•An observational study is performed to examine actual shopper behavior and real sales data.•The HSR proved to engender 26 times more stopping power and to elicit more engagement.•The HSR was also able to attract more shoppers into the store and prompted more spending. This study investigates the effectiveness of a humanoid service robot (HSR) versus a tablet service kiosk (TSK) along the stages of the point-of-sale (POS) conversion funnel. The observational data gathered by means of a field experiment show that the HSR elicited 26 times more interactions (i.e., passersby touching the screen) than the TSK and that these interactions lasted almost +50% as long. Moreover, more people looked at the store and consequently entered it when the HSR was deployed. Furthermore, more unique transactions were registered, and a higher amount was spent during the days when the HSR was present in front of the store. This study proves that implementing an HSR in the store environment is more effective than a TSK in attracting passersby and converting them into buyers.