Polski
Automation Takes Over: Rossmann Bets on a Mega-Warehouse, Lidl on Camera-Equipped Checkouts
This week in retail brings two stories about the same trend – automation aimed at cutting costs and losses. In Poland, Rossmann is preparing the biggest logistics investment in its history, while across the Channel, Lidl is testing self-checkouts that show customers… themselves. Let's look at what connects a warehouse near Pyskowice with a line of checkouts at a British Lidl.
01 · Logistics & Automation
Rossmann is building its largest-ever logistics centre
Rossmann has announced an investment unlike anything it has made before in Poland – half a billion zlotys will go toward expanding its distribution centre in Pyskowice, in the Silesia region [1]. Once the work is complete, the facility's floor area will grow to 66,000 m2, with a sharp increase in warehouse process automation at the heart of the project. The drugstore chain expects this to boost logistics efficiency by nearly 30 percent – a concrete response to the mounting pressure that fast-growing e-commerce is putting on supply chains.
The investment also has a local dimension: around 300 new jobs will be created in the region. The whole project is scheduled to be completed in the second half of 2027, so Rossmann's customers and business partners won't feel the effects of this automation for a few more shopping seasons yet. Still, it's a signal that Polish retail now treats investment in logistics infrastructure just as seriously as expanding its store network – without an efficient warehouse, it's hard to compete today, whether in bricks-and-mortar or online.
02 · Self-Checkout
Lidl UK rolls out self-checkouts with cameras that show the customer
While Rossmann is investing in what happens behind the scenes, Lidl in the UK is focusing on the front of the store – the checkout area [2]. The chain is rolling out new self-checkout units fitted with overhead cameras, large vertical screens, and LED lights that alert staff when a customer needs help. The biggest novelty is that the screen displays a live camera feed of the shopper themselves while they scan their items – an approach already familiar from chains in other countries, meant to discourage the temptation to skip scanning a product.
An additional safeguard requires customers to scan their receipt before leaving the checkout area, creating another checkpoint in the shopping process. Lidl isn't alone here – similar systems are being tested in parallel by Lidl and Kaufland in Germany, which shows this isn't a one-off experiment on a single market but a broader direction within the Schwarz Group. For discounters, it's an attempt to reconcile two conflicting goals: keeping the self-service checkout process fast and staff-light, while curbing the losses that tend to occur precisely at self-checkouts.
03
What this means for the industry
The warehouse near Pyskowice and the checkouts in British Lidl stores are worlds apart in geography and scale, but they share one thing – retailers are investing in technology exactly where it hurts most: operating costs and losses. Rossmann is automating its supply chain to keep pace with e-commerce; Lidl is automating checkout oversight to keep pace with the growing scale of self-service. In both cases, it's clear that technology is no longer a nice-to-have – it's becoming a condition for staying competitive.
For more case studies like these, conversations with retail technology vendors, and live demonstrations of warehouse automation and self-checkout systems, head to the Warsaw RETAIL TECH Expo – follow upcoming editions and get in touch with the exhibitors who build the solutions covered in this roundup every day.
Invitation
From warehouse automation to smart self-checkouts – see these trends live at Warsaw RETAIL TECH Expo. Meet providers of logistics technology and anti-theft systems, talk about rollouts like the ones described above, and swap experiences with other retail industry professionals.
Warsaw RETAIL TECH Expo 2027Footnotes
[1] Wiadomości Handlowe — https://www.wiadomoscihandlowe.pl/handel-i-dystrybucja/drogerie-i-apteki/rossmann-wyda-pol-miliarda-zl-na-najwieksza-inwestycje-w-polsce-2538326[2] Retail Technology Innovation Hub — https://retailtechinnovationhub.com/home/2026/10/1/lidl-uk-deploys-new-self-checkouts-that-show-shoppers-on-screens-across-retailers-store-network
This review was prepared by the Ptak Warsaw Expo editorial team.