A number of developers are now producing and marketing robots that traverse aisles of supermarkets monitoring stock levels.  Simpe Robotics and Bossa Nova Robotics are leading manufacturers of mobile units equipped with cameras and sensors.

The purpose of robots is to detect critically low stock levels on shelves to avoid loss of sales from out-of-stock products.  A number of companies have evaluated robots with some retaining them and others canceling contracts presumably based on nonperformance or cost considerations.