SoftBank is giving its Pepper robot a new job with some big responsibilities.

The Japanese telecom giant is planning to open a cell phone store in Tokyo this spring staffed primarily by Pepper robots, according to a report from The Japan Times. About five to six Pepper robots will run the store from March 28 through April 3, and be responsible for helping customers and making sales.

"I don't know how this will turn out, but it should be a quite interesting experiment," SoftBank CEO Ken Miyauchi told the newspaper.

The robots will be able to answer questions about different cell phone options, and when someone's ready to buy, they'll even attempt to complete the sale. SoftBank does plan to have humans at the ready to handle tasks Pepper can't yet do — like checking customer IDs when drawing up a new contract.

More than 500 companies are already using Pepper, including 37 different financial institutions and Nissan, according to the report. The robot can interact with customers, detect emotions via built-in cameras and sensors, and react appropriately. SoftBank is also partnering with more than 200 firms to develop new business apps for the robot.

Unveiled in June 2014, Pepper comes with a 10.1-inch touch display to monitor emotions via changing colors and movements, as well as voice-recognition technology — enabling human-to-humanoid communication. It also makes gestures like an arm wave or head nod.

SoftBank at CES earlier this month announced plans to soon offer an IBM Watson-powered version of Pepper for enterprises that can make sense of hidden meanings in data that traditional computers can't understand. For instance, Pepper may in the future be able to gain insights about people from sources like what they share on social media, to better assist them in a customer service capacity. With the help of Watson, Pepper might move beyond customer service, to take on teaching assistant or nursing aide roles.