Düsseldorf In the evening the last purchase takes place in the drugstore, there is silence in the shop. But as the doors close, a robot suddenly rolls down the aisles. The chunky at the bottom, with a long neck for scanning shelves, is what the autonomous assistant looks like.

Every night he records the structure of the branch, the exact location of the products and inventory. By intelligently using this data, the start-up behind the robot, Yubica Robotics, promises retailers a significant increase in efficiency and productivity in their business processes.

The average category of a German supermarket contains 12,000 items, and a drugstore has over 20,000. Keeping track of this is a challenge that comes at a high cost. Store logistics accounts for a large portion of total retail logistics chain costs. To counter the growing dominance of online shops, there is a need for innovative concepts for brick-and-mortar retail.