Video: Supermarkets in Denmark Are Testing Humanoid Robots to Stock Shelves

The Danish supermarket chain Føtex is testing humanoid robots designed to stock shelves during night shifts. Automating routine tasks will reduce the workload on staff and allow employees to focus more on serving customers.

According to representatives of the Danish startup Hive Robots, the robots have arms, legs, and fingers, enabling them to perform tasks in spaces designed for humans. This allows them to be used on the sales floor without the need to remodel stores or alter existing infrastructure.

Training takes place directly in the stores using VR headsets and human operators. The operators demonstrate to the robots the sequence of actions when handling products, and the recorded movements are used as training data for the robots to later perform tasks autonomously.

The training process began in June at Føtex supermarkets, which are owned by Denmark’s largest retailer, the Salling Group.

It is expected that by early 2027, the robots will be able to independently stock specific product categories during night shifts. Stores will pay an hourly rate for the use of the robots.

The Salling Group emphasizes that the goal of the pilot project is to assist employees, not to lay them off or completely replace human labor.

According to Føtex estimates, stocking shelves accounts for 40% to 50% of staff working hours. Therefore, automating this process should significantly reduce the workload on employees.

Simon Kudsk, the chain’s chief operating officer, noted that the full-scale implementation of robots in every store could take up to five years.

In the future, the chain plans to expand the range of tasks for the robots. In addition to stocking shelves, they will be able to:

• identify items missing from the shelves or placed incorrectly;
• clear away empty cardboard boxes;
• check product expiration dates.

Thus, Føtex and the Salling Group view robotization as a way to gradually automate day-to-day operations in supermarkets, while leaving tasks related to customer service to human staff.

This was reported by Euronews.

The Chinese company JAKA has unveiled two new industrial robots—the wheeled humanoid Kargo50 for transporting cargo and the Zu50 manipulator with a lifting capacity of up to 50 kg. The new products were showcased at the CIIF 2026 international industrial exhibition in Shanghai.

The startup Destro, which is conducting pilot projects at logistics facilities in the U.S., has emerged from stealth mode and raised $8 million in seed funding. The company develops an AI platform to coordinate robots and workers in warehouses; it does not manufacture its own robots.