Warehouse Robotics Is Moving Beyond the Biggest Retailers

Warehouse automation is entering a new phase. Robotics is no longer limited to Amazon-scale fulfilment centres or highly automated greenfield facilities. Smaller and mid-sized warehouse operators are increasingly exploring robotics as a practical way to deal with labour constraints, space limitations and rising fulfilment expectations.

A 2026 intralogistics robotics survey found that 52% of respondents are already using robots, up from 48% the previous year. Another 32% said they expect to deploy robotics within the next three years. Importantly, nearly half of respondents had annual revenue below $50 million, showing that adoption is spreading beyond the largest enterprises.

🤖 RaaS is lowering the entry barrier

One of the biggest changes is the growth of Robotics-as-a-Service (RaaS).

Instead of making a large upfront investment in hardware, companies can increasingly access robotic systems through subscription or service-based models. This makes automation easier to test, scale and adapt, particularly for mid-sized operators that may not want to commit significant capital to a single automation system.

The shift is already visible in adoption data. A 2025 MHI study found that 48% of participating organisations were using robots, compared with 23% three years earlier. The study also found increasing use of RaaS and SaaS models.

📦 AMRs are becoming a major entry point

Autonomous Mobile Robots are among the technologies gaining traction because they can automate movement without requiring warehouses to completely redesign their facilities.

Current applications include storage, pick-and-place, bin picking and goods-to-person fulfilment. In a 2026 industry survey, 16% of companies reported using AMRs or AGVs, while another 27% said they planned to evaluate them within the next one to two years.

This is important for existing warehouses. Instead of replacing an entire operation, companies can introduce automation in specific areas and expand gradually.

🏭 Warehouses are getting denser

Space is becoming another major driver.

The 2026 intralogistics survey identified limited physical warehouse space as the leading supply-chain challenge among respondents, ahead of labour and operating costs. Automation technologies such as AS/RS, shuttle systems and goods-to-person robotics allow companies to make better use of existing warehouse footprints.

That makes automation particularly valuable in locations where expanding the physical warehouse is expensive or difficult.

🧠 AI is moving from the robot to the entire warehouse

The next development isn't simply smarter robots. It's smarter orchestration.

AI and warehouse-control systems can coordinate different robotic fleets, prioritise orders, optimise routes and adjust workflows as demand changes. Gartner expects 50% of new warehouses in developed markets to be designed as robot-centric facilities by 2030, with humans increasingly focused on exception handling rather than routine movement.

Recent deployments are already showing this direction. Maersk, for example, opened a Singapore fulfilment centre using 49 autonomous case-handling robots and 110 AMRs, while other operators are combining robotics with AI-based inventory and warehouse-management systems.

📈 What this means for warehouse operators

The biggest change is accessibility.

Automation is becoming increasingly modular. A warehouse doesn't necessarily need to become a completely autonomous facility overnight. Operators can start with AMRs, automated storage, robotic picking or inventory scanning, measure the results and expand from there.

The competitive question is therefore changing from:

Can we afford warehouse automation?

to:

Which part of our warehouse should we automate first?

And that's where the next phase of warehouse automation gets interesting.

Robots are getting smarter.
Warehouses are getting denser.
Automation is becoming more accessible.
And fulfilment is moving closer to the customer.