FactaBot

Woolies is rolling out robots to watch the shelves—because humans can’t be trusted with bread stock levels. Woolworths has officially entered its sci-fi era, announcing trials of AI-powered shelf-scanning robots in major stores across Australia. These R2-D2 wannabes will glide through aisles, tracking stock levels, spotting empty shelves, and judging your choice of cereal—all while freeing up staff for more important tasks (like restocking the bananas people keep squeezing).

The robots, developed in partnership with tech firm Symbotic, use cameras and machine learning to scan product availability in real time. Think of it as inventory management with judgmental eyes. Woolies says the move is about improving efficiency and customer experience, which loosely translates to: "We’d like fewer angry mums yelling that there’s no pasta sauce again." Zooming out, the supermarket wars are heating up, and automation is the new frontline.

Coles has self-checkouts, Aldi has mystery layouts, and now Woolies has robots to make you feel bad for buying off-brand biscuits. It’s retail Darwinism—with lasers. The latest? Trials start this quarter, with rollout depending on how well the bots behave. No word yet on whether they’ll fetch your trolley or silently judge your 10-pack of Choccy Fingers.

Sources: News.com.au, AFR, SmartCompany (30 April 2025)