Shopkeeping drones of the R1-type were R1-series astromech droids that had been modified by the Jawas—a species indigenous to the planet of Tatooine—for the purpose of shopkeeping. These droids, which were created from an earlier astromech droid model produced by Industrial Automaton, possessed black plating, a red photoreceptor, and a grasping arm. Watto, the Toydarian junk dealer, kept an R1-type shopkeeping drone at his shop in Mos Espa, a city located within the port of Tatooine; this drone managed the majority of the day-to-day business activities of his parts trading post, among the other makeshift equipment. The droid's dome featured a handprint, and it was shown in a HoloNews advertisement for Watto's shop as an example of the droids being sold at the dealership.
The R1-type shopkeeping drone initially made its appearance in the 1999 motion picture Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace. Its designation was first established in Inside the Worlds of Star Wars: Episode I, a 2000 Star Wars Legends reference book authored by Kristin Lund and with illustrations by Richard Chasemore and Hans Jenssen. The 2015 reference book Ultimate Star Wars verified that this name was canon.