A Danish supermarket tests robots that stock shelves at night

A Danish supermarket is testing robots that put goods back on the shelves at night, after customers leave. The store is a Føtex near Copenhagen. A person still guides every move. The software is learning how different packs feel in a hand.

Salling Group owns Føtex and is Denmark's largest retailer. The partner is Hive Robots, a Danish startup. Euronews filmed the aisle on October 11. Unitree builds the machines.

The trial started in June. Hive wants the robots stocking shelves without a guide by early 2027, mostly at night in an empty store. That date is a target, not a promise. Euronews says the robots are still slower than the staff and need close watching. Later jobs would be expiry dates, empty shelves, and items left in the wrong place. None of those are tonight's job.

Simon Kudsk runs Føtex. He told Euronews that filling shelves takes 40 to 50 percent of a worker's time. He wants people with customers, not doing that lifting. Charlotte Sand, Hive's co-founder, said the robot does not have to match a person's speed if it can keep going. She described a shift that could eventually run all night and all day. Danish law would have to change before a robot could move on its own among shoppers. Until then the work stays at night, away from customers. Salling Group has more than 2,000 stores in six European countries. This film is one store, not a chain-wide rollout.

The store does not buy a robot. It books hours. That offer is on Hive's retail page, which Euronews does not spell out. Hive brings the body, runs the software, and staffs a remote pilot. The hourly rate is on request. It depends on the store, the shift, and how much gets moved. Staff pick what to refill in an app. Each item has a photo, an aisle, and a shelf. They send the list at closing. The first phase Hive shows launch partners is one robot, one remote pilot, eight hours a night, seven nights a week. Those programs aim at 2027. Right now the live test is this one Danish supermarket.

Hive says these bodies are 140 cm and 180 cm tall, so one can reach a low shelf and one a high shelf. The Hive retail page does not name a Unitree model. Our Unitree G1 is about 132 cm and still lists at $13,500 as a developer kit. This night shift is not that catalog row. The shop price stays put. Booking hours from Hive is a service trial. You cannot buy this robot on Unitree's site.