China’s retail sector is undergoing a high-tech transformation, with robots increasingly taking on roles from store clerks to warehouse pickers. In 2024 and 2025, advanced robotics and AI are being deployed at supermarkets, malls, and convenience stores, as well as throughout e-commerce warehouses and delivery networks. These robots in retail stores are improving efficiency and redefining the shopping experience in China’s cities.
Major tech companies like Alibaba, JD.com, and Meituan – alongside specialized robotics firms like Pudu Robotics (普渡机器人)– are at the forefront of this movement, integrating robots into everything from customer service to last-mile logistics.
This comprehensive look at China’s retail robotics revolution will explore the types of robots used, real-world examples and stats, benefits and challenges, and what the future may hold.
Robots on the Store Floor: Smart Retail in Supermarkets and Malls
If you walk into a supermarket or mall in China today, you’ll often see robots working alongside human staff. These machines handle everyday tasks — from greeting customers to cleaning floors — making shopping smoother, faster, and often more engaging.
Customer Service & Shopping Assistant Robots
Service robots greet shoppers, answer questions, and guide people to products or departments. Many are equipped with AI chat features, touchscreens, and voice interaction in multiple languages. They can recommend promotions, share directions, or entertain children, adding both convenience and novelty.
Some malls and pharmacies already pilot humanoid robots that handle front-desk duties or medication retrieval, showing how basic customer queries may soon shift entirely to machines.
As of mid-2025, China’s humanoid robot market is projected to explode—from RMB 2.76 billion ($378M) in 2024 to over RMB 75 billion ($10.26B) by 2029. This shows that these bots aren’t just gimmicks—they’re becoming essential.
And it’s not just assistants anymore—China’s taking the concept even further. In Shenzhen, the world’s first Robot Mall opened in August 2025. Here, humanoid bots don’t just greet customers—they staff entire stores, serve meals, manage cafés, and even perform product demos. It’s like stepping into a sci-fi film—except it’s real.
Shelf-Scanning & Inventory Robots
Stock management is tedious but vital. Shelf-scanning robots now patrol aisles with cameras and computer vision, checking inventory levels, price accuracy, and misplaced goods. They instantly alert staff when items run out or price tags are wrong, helping keep shelves full and accurate.
Globally, such robots have captured billions of shelf images for inventory data. Chinese supermarkets are adopting similar models, reducing human error and ensuring fewer empty shelves.
Restocking and Shopping Cart Robots
Robots are being trialed for heavy lifting and replenishment. Designed to move large trolleys or cases from storage to shelves, these machines handle repetitive overnight restocking, freeing workers from physical strain.
Other pilots include shopping-cart robots that follow customers through aisles or collect stray carts, hinting at how routine store logistics could soon become autonomous.
Cleaning and Disinfection Robots
Floor-scrubbing robots have become a regular sight in malls and supermarkets. Programmed to navigate complex layouts, they vacuum, scrub, and dry floors with minimal supervision.
During the pandemic, many were upgraded with UV disinfection or sanitizer spray functions, providing round-the-clock hygiene without exposing staff to risk.
In recent years, China’s production of cleaning and delivery robots reached nearly 1.9 million units, making them one of the largest categories of service robots.
Security and Monitoring Robots
Beyond customer service and cleaning, some robots patrol store aisles or shopping centers. Equipped with cameras, sensors, and hazard detection systems, they monitor for spills, theft, smoke, or intrusions after hours.
In some trials, they’ve even been used to check body temperatures or enforce safety measures. For retailers, these patrol robots provide consistent vigilance and free human staff to focus on service.
Why It Matters
In-store robots help retailers reduce repetitive labor, maintain cleaner and safer environments, and offer shoppers smoother, more interactive experiences. For customers, it means well-stocked shelves, faster answers, and a touch of novelty when shopping. For staff, it means more time for customer-focused tasks instead of routine duties.
Warehouse Automation and Smart Logistics Behind the Scenes
If robots on store floors are the visible part of retail automation, warehouses and delivery networks are where the real revolution is happening. China’s e-commerce sector processes hundreds of millions of orders daily, making speed, accuracy, and efficiency critical. Robots now power every stage of this chain, from stocking shelves to delivering parcels to doorsteps.
Automated Warehouses & Fulfillment Centers
Modern Chinese warehouses rely heavily on automated guided vehicles (AGVs), robotic arms, and AI-powered sorting systems. AGVs transport goods between zones, robotic arms stack or pick items, and cross-belt sorters route packages to the right docks.
These facilities handle workloads impossible for humans alone. Advanced systems process millions of items per day, cutting order times and reducing errors. Vertical lift modules and AI route optimization also allow operators to increase storage density by 2–3×, a crucial advantage in crowded urban logistics hubs.
Smart Sorting & Picking Systems
China’s retail logistics increasingly uses Goods-to-Person systems, where fleets of mobile robots bring inventory to human pickers at stations. This reduces walking time, boosts efficiency, and allows warehouses to process up to three times more orders than manual operations.
Accuracy has also improved dramatically. Modern AI-driven systems now reach 99.99% sorting precision, minimizing costly mis-shipments and enhancing customer trust in fast delivery services.
Last-Mile Autonomous Delivery Robots
Perhaps the most visible innovation for consumers is the rise of self-driving delivery robots. These small vehicles navigate sidewalks, campuses, and residential communities, transporting groceries, meals, or parcels.
Operating at safe, low speeds, they are built for short-distance “last mile” drops. Customers receive a pickup code on their phone to unlock the compartment and retrieve their package.
China has scaled deployment rapidly:
- In some pilot cities, 20–30% of local deliveries are now managed by autonomous vehicles.
- A single vehicle can deliver 1,500+ packages daily, depending on route density.
- During peak shopping events, fleets of delivery robots increase courier capacity by up to 1.5×.
Creative Urban Solutions
Innovation is not limited to sidewalks. In 2025, Shenzhen introduced a world-first subway delivery pilot where 41 robots boarded trains to restock convenience stores inside metro stations.
These robots navigated stations autonomously, delivering snacks and drinks from depots to shops scattered across the subway network. The pilot highlighted how retail robotics can integrate with existing infrastructure to solve urban logistics challenges.
Integration Across the Supply Chain
China is testing systems where packages travel almost entirely without human touch:
- Robotic picking arms in warehouses
- Autonomous vans or carts for city transport
- Indoor delivery bots that bring parcels to building lobbies or offices
This end-to-end automation is moving from trial to normal practice in multiple Chinese cities, especially during high-volume events like Singles’ Day or 6.18 sales festivals, when millions of packages are dispatched per hour.
Why It Matters
Warehouse and delivery robots give China’s retailers a massive edge in speed and scalability. They ensure faster fulfillment, lower errors, and smoother last-mile service, while keeping costs under control. For global retailers, these systems demonstrate how automation can handle demand surges, labor shortages, and urban delivery challenges at an unprecedented scale.
How Robotics Is Transforming Shopping in China
China’s retail-robotics surge is being driven by a handful of giants that build, buy, and deploy at a national scale. Here’s how the leaders stack up—and where their robots are already working today.
Alibaba: Freshippo (Hema) & Cainiao
In stores (Freshippo), Alibaba’s tech-infused grocery chain has turned automation into a competitive weapon. In mid-2023, Freshippo opened a one-million-sq-ft supply chain center in Shanghai, billed as its first wholly automated park.
Inside, AGVs ferry pallets, robotic arms load/unload, and high-speed sorters route goods—an end-to-end system built for same-day grocery fulfillment and peak-day volume spikes.
On the last mile (Cainiao). Alibaba’s logistics arm has taken its Level-4 autonomous delivery vehicle (“Xiaomanlv”) from showcase to scale:
- By late 2024, Cainiao reported its delivery robots had completed 40+ million parcel deliveries—evidence that autonomy is moving into routine operations.
- Cainiao has commercialized its latest Level-4 robot platform, offering it for public sale to businesses (a sign production is maturing and costs are falling).
- In Hangzhou’s Yuhang District, a station operating 20+ unmanned vehicles saw robots handle 30%+ of local parcel volume, with each vehicle delivering 1,500+ packages/day—a snapshot of throughput when fleets concentrate in one catchment.
Why it matters. Alibaba isn’t just piloting gadgets; it’s wiring robots into retail operations at scale—automating upstream hubs (Freshippo) and downstream routes (Cainiao) under one roof. That integration is what turns autonomy into faster fulfillment, tighter inventory, and lower last-mile costs.
JD.com: JD Logistics & Retail
Warehouse automation at an industrial scale
JD Logistics runs one of China’s densest automated networks. As of Dec 31, 2024, JD reported ~3,600 warehouses (including “cloud” warehouses for partners), while its listed logistics unit operated ~1,600 self-run warehouses as of Mar 31, 2025—numbers that underscore breadth as well as direct control.
Next-gen “goods-to-person” systems
JD’s “Zhilang” (智能“智狼”) platform combines fleets of handling robots with vertical storage to bring items directly to pick-stations, boosting throughput vs. manual aisles and exploiting vertical height for denser storage. JD says Zhilang lifts picking efficiency multiple-fold and raises storage density significantly; deployments include apparel sites in Beijing with dozens to ~100 robots working in concert.
Autonomous delivery roots
JD was also among the first to run contactless robot deliveries during the Wuhan lockdown in early 2020—early proof that autonomy can keep logistics moving under stress. Today, autonomous vehicles remain part of JD’s peak-day toolkit across its “Asia No.1” hubs and city stations.
Why it matters. JD pairs deep in-house automation (robots, sortation, orchestration software) with an unrivaled national footprint—allowing it to compound small per-order gains into real speed and margin advantages at scale.
Meituan: Urban On-Demand, Robotic Delivery
By the end of 2024, Meituan’s street-legal autonomous delivery vehicles had completed nearly 5 million orders, primarily in dense urban pilot zones—making it one of the largest real-world autonomous delivery operations anywhere.
Automotive-grade stack. Since 2023, Meituan has partnered with Pony.ai to build an automotive-grade domain controller (NVIDIA Orin-based) for its latest delivery vehicles, enabling higher autonomy and easier fleet scaling across Tier-1 cities.
Ecosystem approach. Beyond curbside robots, Meituan deploys indoor delivery bots across offices and hotels and invests in the service-robot supply chain (see Pudu below). The through-line: reduce the cost of short-haul, high-frequency deliveries while keeping customer satisfaction high.
Why it matters. Meituan is proving that autonomy can be operational, not just experimental, in China’s busiest neighborhoods. It is closing the loop from app order to robot hand-off and building a replicable playbook for other services (grocery, pharmacy, convenience).
Pudu Robotics: Service Robots at Massive Footprint
Shenzhen-based Pudu popularized food-runner robots like BellaBot and PuduBot and then expanded into building delivery and cleaning robots.
By late 2023, Pudu reported ~70,000 units shipped and was active in 600+ cities across 60+ countries, placing it among the most widely deployed commercial service robot vendors globally. As of April 2025, Pudu Robotics has shipped over 100,000 robots, serving 1,000+ cities in 80+ countries—making it one of the most widely deployed service robot companies worldwide.
Meituan was the exclusive investor in Pudu’s 2020 Series B and later joined follow-on rounds—tightening the link between China’s largest on-demand platform and its in-venue robot supplier.
Why it matters. Pudu’s international installed base shows that Chinese service robots have crossed the chasm—from novelty to routine helpers in restaurants, malls, hotels, and airports—and that local cost/scale advantages travel well.
Beijing Robot Mall
In August 2025, Beijing opened the world’s first retail complex dedicated to consumer and service robots. Located in the E-Town district, the four-storey Robot Mall spans 4,000 m² and follows a car-style “4S” model (sales, service, spare parts, surveys).
The mall features:
- 50–100 robot models from over 40 manufacturers, including Unitree Robotics and Ubtech.
- Prices range from ¥ 2,000 (≈US$278) for consumer devices to several million yuan for humanoids.
- Demonstrations of robotic chefs, bartenders, chess-playing bots, animal companions, and warehouse automation units
A robot-run restaurant shows how service roles are shifting to machines. The aim is to normalize robots in everyday shopping, making stores testing grounds for human–robot interaction.
The Robot Mall also acts as a direct channel for manufacturers. Instead of selling only through B2B, they can service products and collect user feedback onsite, speeding product improvement and adoption.
Government backing reinforces this push. China has pledged over US$20 billion in subsidies for AI and robotics and plans a ¥1 trillion (≈US$137 billion) industry fund. These measures confirm that consumer-facing robots are part of a long-term economic strategy, not just a novelty.
Bottom Line
- Alibaba is industrializing both upstream (automated hubs) and downstream (L4 last-mile robots).
- JD.com is compounding warehouse-automation gains across a national network.
- Meituan is normalizing urban autonomous delivery at meaningful volumes.
- Pudu/Keenon and peers are flooding front-of-house with reliable, affordable service robots.
Together, they form a full-stack retail robotics ecosystem—from factory and warehouse to store aisle and sidewalk—pushing China’s retail experience toward cleaner stores, fewer stockouts, faster delivery, and lower operating costs.
Other Notable Players to Watch
Keenon Robotics (Shanghai)
A major rival to Pudu in service robots, Keenon says it has shipped 100,000+ units globally and, per IDC, led several service-robot segments by 2024. It’s expanding beyond catering into cleaning and guidance scenarios.
Neolix (Beijing)
Builds automotive-grade autonomous delivery vans used in commercial pilots with Chinese platforms; NVIDIA notes that Meituan and Neolix will deploy Orin-powered controllers for large-scale autonomous delivery vehicles.
UBTech Robotics (Shenzhen)
China’s best-known humanoid maker, listed in Hong Kong in December 2023 (HKEX: 9880), with Tencent among investors. UBTech’s “Walker S” humanoid is a frequent showpiece and now features in Beijing’s new Robot Mall.
DeepRobotics (云深处)
DeepRobotics is a leading Chinese robotics company specializing in industrial quadruped robots and embodied AI systems. Its self-developed Jueying robot series achieves 96.5% inspection accuracy and 70%+ efficiency improvements in hazardous environments like power plants. Recognized as a national-level “Little Giant” enterprise, DeepRobotics partners with State Grid and Baosteel, proving its successful leap from lab research to real-world industrial deployment.
Unitree (宇树科技)
Globally recognized for consumer and industrial-grade quadruped and humanoid robots, plus advanced robotic arms. In 2023, it launched the Unitree Go2 quadruped and its first humanoid robot, H1. In 2024, it introduced the Unitree G1 humanoid robot with enhanced dexterity, priced at ¥99,000 ($13,787). Unitree leads global quadruped sales, integrates the robotics supply chain, and expands into consumer, industrial, and public-service applications.
Shenzhen Subway Delivery Pilot
In Shenzhen, real estate developer Vanke programmed about 40 autonomous delivery robots to deliver supplies to 7‑Eleven stores via the subway. The bots wait for passengers to exit, ride elevators to street level, and then travel to the store where staff retrieve the cargo. Panoramic lidar and an AI dispatch system allow them to avoid obstacles and plan optimal routes
Cleaning leaders (Gausium/Gaussian, Ecovacs Commercial, SIASUN)
China’s commercial-cleaning ecosystem supplies malls, airports, and supermarkets domestically and abroad—e.g., Gaussian/Gausium deployments at major airports and venues—supporting the “always-on” hygiene baseline retailers expect.
Benefits of Embracing Robotics in Retail
The rapid uptake of robots in Chinese retail isn’t just for show – there are concrete benefits driving companies to automate. Here are some key advantages that robots bring to retail stores and logistics:
Improved Efficiency and Productivity
Robots excel at repetitive, time-consuming tasks. In warehouses, automated guided vehicles and robotic picking systems can process orders several times faster than humans. JD.com’s “Zhilang” system alone has increased picking efficiency by over three times compared to manual operations.
On store floors, robots scan shelves or clean floors daily without fatigue, ensuring work is done consistently and on schedule. After hours, restocking robots keep 24-hour supermarkets ready by morning.
During sales peaks like Singles’ Day or 6.18, robotic systems allow companies to handle millions of orders per day without breaking bottlenecks.
Cost Savings and Operational Resilience
Robots require upfront investment, but over time, they reduce reliance on human labor for low-skill, high-turnover tasks. Costs continue to drop, making robots more affordable than a courier’s annual wages in Tier-1 cities. Their electricity and maintenance costs are far lower than keeping a full fleet of drivers.
Robots also minimize costly mistakes. Inventory robots prevent out-of-stock losses, while sorting machines achieve 99.99% accuracy, cutting mis-shipments. They also reduce workplace injuries by taking over heavy lifting or disinfection tasks.
Importantly, robots ensure business continuity: during COVID-19 lockdowns, JD’s delivery robots kept parcels moving in Wuhan, when human couriers were restricted.
Enhanced Customer Experience
Robots make shopping more convenient and engaging. Customers can ask a robot assistant where to find an item instead of wandering aisles, or place an online order and receive it via a cute autonomous cart within an hour. These service touches build loyalty in a highly competitive market.
In-store, shoppers enjoy better-stocked shelves thanks to scanning robots, cleaner environments maintained by floor bots, and shorter wait times at service points. Robots also add novelty — families often stop to interact with robot greeters or food delivery bots in malls. A state media survey in 2024 found that most Chinese consumers view service robots positively, especially when they improve speed or convenience.
Consistency and Data Generation
Human performance can vary, but robots execute tasks with consistency. A service robot will greet every shopper the same way, every day, maintaining brand standards. Shelf scanners can collect daily image datasets on stock levels, generating analytics that improve supply chain decisions.
Cleaning robots log the dirtiest store zones, guiding managers to adjust layouts. Delivery robots map routes and record travel times, producing data that feeds into AI-driven traffic optimization.
Alibaba, for example, uses robot-collected data at Freshippo stores to cut food waste and improve stocking precision. With 60% of Freshippo’s grocery sales now online, this data loop is central to keeping fulfillment efficient and minimizing waste.
Safety and Pandemic Resilience
Robots strengthen both worker and customer safety. Disinfection robots using UV light or sanitizer sprays maintain hygiene without risking human exposure. Security patrol robots can check disturbances in large malls at night, reducing risks for guards.
Even in daily routines, robots prevent accidents: floor scrubbers keep aisles dry, preventing slip-and-fall injuries, while robotic arms in warehouses remove the need for staff to climb ladders or lift heavy crates.
The pandemic accelerated these uses. Contactless delivery robots ensured food and medicine reached quarantined residents. Shoppers came to see robots not just as futuristic tools, but as enablers of safe, hygienic commerce.
Bottom Line
Robots help retailers work faster, cheaper, and safer, while delivering cleaner stores, consistent service, and richer customer experiences. They also generate data that sharpens supply chains and enables long-term strategic gains.
In China’s high-volume retail environment, these benefits compound quickly — making robotics not just attractive, but essential for staying competitive.
Work With Ashley Dudarenok on the Future of Retail and Robotics
China’s retail revolution—where robotics, AI, and consumer experience merge—is exactly where Ashley Dudarenok delivers world-class insights. Through her keynotes on digital transformation, customer centricity, and retail innovation in China, she helps global leaders understand how technologies like robotics reshape the shopper journey.
Ashley has delivered 300+ keynotes worldwide, advised Fortune 500 companies, and built platforms like ChoZan that decode China’s fast-moving consumer and tech landscape. Her talks are packed with case studies from Alibaba, JD.com, Meituan, and the ecosystems driving this automation wave.
Bring Ashley to your next event or leadership session and equip your team with a clear roadmap for competing in a retail future shaped by robotics and Chinese innovation.
FAQ — Robots in Retail Stores
What industries beyond retail are integrating service robots in China?
Beyond shopping, service robots in China are increasingly used in hospitals for patient monitoring, hotels for luggage handling, and public spaces like airports for wayfindin. They excel at delivering consistent, contactless service while freeing staff for high-value human tasks, and their deployment continues growing steadily.
How do Chinese robotic platforms support payment and billing in automated environments?
Many retail robots in China use QR code scanning and mobile wallet integration to process payments at point of interaction — a shopper scans, pays, and the robot handles delivery or operation. This ensures quick, cashless transactions without extra hardware, seamlessly blending with popular mobile payment habits.
Are there language accessibility features built into robot interfaces for diverse shoppers?
Yes — retailers often equip robots with multilingual voice recognition (Mandarin, Cantonese, English) and large touchscreen menus with icons for easy navigation. These features ensure accessibility for children, elderly shoppers, or international visitors who may not be fluent in Chinese.
Can robots gather customer feedback or preferences in real time?
Absolutely. Many service robots include on-screen surveys or voice prompts asking shoppers about product availability or service satisfaction. Based on aggregated feedback, retailers can then adjust displays, restocking, or promotions in real time.
What environmental benefits can result from robot-powered retail?
When robots use AI to optimize restocking and delivery routes, they reduce food waste, cut unnecessary trips, and improve energy efficiency. This benefits retailers and the environment by minimizing spoilage and lowering carbon footprints.
How do retailers train staff to work alongside robots?
Training typically involves hands-on sessions where workers learn robot capabilities, troubleshooting, and safety protocols. They’re taught to monitor performance dashboards, reset or recharge units, and identify when human intervention is needed, making the human-robot team more resilient.
What customization options do businesses have for retail robots?
Retailers can modify robots with branded wraps, voice personas, and task modules—for example, programming a robot to announce “Happy Hour specials” or navigate differently on weekends. This makes robots feel like extensions of store identity, not generic machines.
How do robots handle low-light or crowded store environments?
Many retail robots use a fusion of LiDAR, infrared, and RGB cameras, allowing them to navigate busy or dimly-lit aisles safely and without bumping into customers. This multi-sensor approach ensures reliability where vision alone might fail.
Are there loan-or-lease models for small retailers to pilot robots?
Yes — several manufacturers offer monthly leasing programs, where retailers can test robot performance for a few months before buying outright. Maintenance and software updates are usually bundled, lowering financial barriers for small businesses.
How do robots support inventory audits beyond visual scanning?
Some systems include weight sensors or RFID readers embedded in carts or shelves to verify stock levels accurately. This redundancy catches misplacement or miscounts that cameras might miss, ensuring higher inventory integrity.
Can retail robots work in outdoor or pop-up settings?
Indeed. Ruggedized robots with weather-proof casings, GPS, and terrain-aware wheels can operate at outdoor markets or pop-up stores, guiding customers, giving product info, or managing mobile inventory without access to stable Wi-Fi.
How do retail robots comply with privacy regulations in China?
Robots designed for public interaction typically anonymize camera feeds, avoid storing sensitive images, and focus only on action (e.g., “item picked up”). Retailers must comply with China’s Data Security Law, ensuring robot data collection is non-intrusive and secure.
What happens when a robot malfunctions during store hours?
Most robots enter autonomous safe mode, stop moving, and notify staff via dashboard alert or flashing light. Staff can then reset the unit or dispatch technical support. This safety-first fail-state ensures robots don’t become hazards or block traffic.
Can robots assist with energetic promotions or product launches?
Yes—some marketing-ready robots can dance, deliver samples, or project AR demos using built-in displays or projectors. These lively performances draw crowds and create memorable experiences—enhancing brand visibility in a playful way.
