Humanoid robots have “made their way” into a supermarket in Denmark, with the Danish Salling Group testing them for restocking shelves, freeing up staff to serve customers.
At a Føtex supermarket near Copenhagen, robots are learning to take on one of the most time-consuming tasks in retail—and they’re even working night shifts.
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Developed by the Danish startup Hive Robots and manufactured by the Chinese company Unitree, the machines have been undergoing training since June. For now, human operators guide every movement, helping the artificial intelligence learn how to handle different products.
The goal is for them to autonomously restock shelves by early 2027, working primarily at night when the supermarket is closed.
The experiment is part of a broader trial with the Salling Group, Denmark’s largest retail chain, which operates more than 2,000 stores in six European countries.
According to Føtex, employees spend between 40 and 50% of their time restocking shelves. The chain hopes that robots will gradually take over part of this repetitive, manual work so that employees will have more time to serve customers.
The machines could then check expiration dates, identify empty shelves, and locate misplaced products. However, they still work more slowly than humans and require close supervision.
Danish legislation will also need to be amended before robots can operate autonomously among customers. For now, the focus is on night shifts and tasks away from consumers.
Source: cnn.gr
