Groceryshop 2026 provided an opportunity to assess the state of retail robotics. Source: Georges Mirza

It has been more than a decade since I first helped to bring robots to live retail center stores. Long gone are retailers’ concerns about robots taking jobs, scaring kids, accidentally bumping into shoppers, or simply disrupting the grocery shopping experience.

It is good to see how much the industry has advanced; we have come a long way. Now that we are seeing scale, we can start using near-real-time shelf insights across more retail solutions. In this AI age of disruption, there is no excuse for not prioritizing and benefiting from these insights.

Is the broader retail solution space ready to advance and make this data actionable? I attended Groceryshop 2026 last month to find out.

The major announcement came from Simbe Robotics, which has now completed the rollout of 3,000 Tally robots globally across retailers and countries. With an ongoing rollout at a Tier 1 retailer, that number will quickly grow, marking another major accomplishment for robotics in retail.

Simbe has also been proactive in building capabilities to make its data actionable, from analytics dashboards to virtual store tours. That proactive approach will be critical to staying relevant as the retail technology environment continues to evolve.

How far can Simbe go on its own in developing these capabilities before it begins to overlap with established solutions? And how quickly will those established solutions begin consuming this new source of shelf data? A new way of thinking is certainly needed across the industry.

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