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Cashierless robot store highlights automation at Beijing conference

Image: Adobe Stock

August 20, 2026

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A cashierless convenience store demonstrated at the 2026 World Robot Conference in Beijing showed how multiple robots could complete an entire retail transaction, according to a Mail Business report. After a customer ordered at a kiosk, one robot collected products from shelves and carried them to a packing station, where another robot bagged and sealed the order before presenting it to the shopper. Galaxea, a Chinese humanoid robotics company, designed the exhibit to resemble a full-size neighborhood convenience store.

This year's conference emphasized practical uses for robots in homes, stores, restaurants, warehouses and factories. Unitree Robotics demonstrated robots preparing sandwiches, washing produce and playing table tennis, while Galbot showed a humanoid robot folding and organizing clothes. UBTech displayed coordinated industrial robots, and Hikrobot presented a service robot that removes trash from fast-food dining areas.

Other exhibits featured robots sorting parcels, loading boxes onto autonomous vehicles, selecting products and checking shipping labels. More than 300 companies displayed over 2,000 products, including more than 150 new releases, an increase from about 200 exhibitors and 1,500 products a year earlier. The expanded event also highlighted China's effort to develop a domestic supply chain for robotics materials, components and equipment.