These humanoids are giving new meaning to the phrase “overnight success.”

While supermarket shoppers sleep, the machines are learning to perform one of retail’s most repetitive and time-consuming jobs: restocking shelves. It’s work that can consume nearly half an employee’s shift, but a Danish supermarket chain believes humanoid robots could eventually handle much of it overnight, leaving human workers more time to serve customers.

Denmark’s Salling Group, the country’s largest retail company, is exploring that possibility through a partnership with Danish robotics startup HIVE Robots. The initiative is being tested at a føtex supermarket near Copenhagen, where humanoids are learning to navigate aisles, pick up products and place them on shelves.

Salling Group operates more than 2,100 stores across six European countries, employs approximately 68,000 people and serves 15 million customers weekly. Even modest improvements in shelf replenishment could eventually translate into substantial labor savings across its retail operations.

“Grocery stores and supermarkets are designed to function optimally for customers moving around the store,” said Simon Kudsk, operations director at føtex. “This makes traditional industrial robots unsuitable for retail environments.”

Unlike conventional industrial robots, which typically operate in fixed locations, humanoids are designed to move through environments built for people. Their arms, hands and humanlike proportions allow them to reach shelves, handle merchandise and potentially perform multiple tasks without requiring supermarkets to redesign their interiors.

“Training robots and deploying them in real stores is essential for collecting the data needed to continuously improve their capabilities,” said Jakob Sand, HIVE Robots founder. “The more time robots spend operating in real environments, the better they become every single day.”

The machines, manufactured by Chinese robotics company Unitree and equipped with HIVE’s software, have been training since June. Human operators currently control the robots’ movements remotely, generating data that helps the AI learn how to manipulate different products and navigate the unpredictable physical conditions of a supermarket.

The ambition is to have robots replenishing shelves independently by early 2027, although achieving that goal will require significant improvements. The machines remain slower than human workers and require close supervision, while Danish safety restrictions present obstacles to autonomous operation around daytime shoppers.

For now, the experiment concentrates on overnight shifts, when stores are closed and robots can work without navigating crowds. Eventually, their responsibilities could expand to identifying empty shelves, checking expiration dates and spotting misplaced merchandise.

HIVE envisions a future in which individual supermarkets operate three to five humanoids, potentially around the clock. Its business model also eliminates the need for retailers to purchase expensive machines outright. Instead, stores would pay an hourly rate that covers the robots, software, maintenance and remote human operators.

The experiment reflects a broader effort to bring AI-powered humanoids into workplaces traditionally dependent on human labor.

Automaker BMW, for example, has already deployed humanoids developed by Figure AI at its Spartanburg, South Carolina, manufacturing plant. During a 2025 pilot, the Figure 02 robot moved more than 90,000 sheet-metal components for welding, supporting production of more than 30,000 BMW X3 vehicles.

BMW is now pursuing additional applications involving its newer Figure 03 robot, including sorting automotive components for delivery to assembly lines. BMW has also introduced AEON humanoid robots developed by Hexagon at its Leipzig plant in Germany, where they are being tested in battery assembly and component manufacturing.

For supermarkets, the challenge extends beyond whether robots can perform the work. They must eventually do it reliably, economically and with enough independence to justify their deployment.

HIVE maintains that humanoids are intended to supplement employees rather than replace them, particularly during difficult-to-staff overnight shifts. But their growing capabilities inevitably raise questions about how automation could reshape retail employment, especially if machines eventually perform tasks requiring little human intervention.