Piece Picking Robots - Market Share Analysis, Industry Trends & Statistics, Growth Forecasts (2026-2031)

The piece-picking robots market size is expected to grow from USD 1.7 billion in 2025 to USD 2.58 billion in 2026 and is forecast to reach USD 20.78 billion by 2031 at 51.78% CAGR over 2026-2031. This report is Segmented by Type of Robot (Collaborative and More), by Component (Hardware, Software and More), by End User Application (Pharmaceutical and Healthcare, Grocery and FMCG and More), by Payload Capacity (Up To 5 Kg, 5-10 Kg, Above 10 Kg), by Deployment Model (Capital Purchase (CapEx) and More), by Geography. The Market Sizes and Forecasts are Provided in Value (USD).

Global Piece Picking Robots Market Trends and Insights

Rising e-commerce order volumes and SKU proliferation

SKU counts are climbing 40% each year at large fulfillment centers, while order sizes fracture into smaller parcels. Piece-picking robots rely on machine-learning algorithms that now handle millions of unique items and reach 1,200 picks per hour. Micro-fulfillment footprints and same-day delivery guarantees intensify the requirement for systems that identify new objects in 0.3 seconds, driving the piece-picking robots market toward AI-rich software.

Labour scarcity and wage inflation in mature logistics hubs

More than 55% of warehouse operators cite labor shortages as the primary trigger for automation. Wage growth in logistics consistently exceeds general inflation, strengthening the investment case for robotics even at current price points. Japan underscores the point, with government programs positioning robotics as essential infrastructure amid a rapidly aging workforce s Robots also mitigate turnover by eliminating repetitive lifting tasks and enabling safer human-robot collaboration.

Persistent gripper limitations for deformable SKUs

Robots still struggle with soft goods and flexible packaging. Success rates drop to 75-80% on deformable items versus 95% on rigid parts, restricting uptake in grocery and FMCG where dexterity matters most.

Other drivers and restraints analyzed in the detailed report include:

• Vision-AI breakthroughs enabling ≥ 95% pick accuracy
• Cost-down in cobot arms (< USD 15,000) widening SME adoption
• High failure-on-first-pick KPI penalties in grocery

Segment Analysis

Mobile autonomous robots are climbing at a 49.2% CAGR and underpin next-generation agility, while collaborative arms retained 45.40% of 2025 revenue. This mix shows the piece-picking robots market shifting from fixed stations toward fleets that navigate dynamic warehouse aisles without heavy infrastructure.

Mobile platforms adapt routing based on live congestion and eliminate conveyance bottlenecks, raising system uptime during peak seasons. Brightpick’s Autopicker lifts items directly from totes and places them into outbound orders, cutting travel cycles and reducing dock-to-ship times. Fixed-arm units remain vital in pharmaceuticals and electronics where micron-level precision outweighs layout flexibility, yet growth is slower than the mobile cohort.

Hardware accounted for 57.10% of 2025 spend, but software is growing 51.3% per year and fast becomes the profit engine. AI-driven stacks refine grasp-planning logic in real time, shrinking pick-cycle latency and expanding SKU coverage. AutoStore’s CarouselAI optimizes sequence selection without human tuning, demonstrating how software outpaces mechanical innovation in value creation.

Service revenues scale alongside software as integrators maintain fleets via cloud diagnostics and predictive maintenance. With over a petabyte of execution data, RightHand Robotics continuously updates algorithms, illustrating that data flywheels lock in customers through compounding accuracy gains

Complete Report Scope:

• By Type of Robot
  • Collaborative
  • Fixed-Arm
  • Mobile Piece-Picking AMR
  • Others
• By Component
  • Hardware
  • Software
  • Services
• By End-User Industry
  • E-commerce / Retail Fulfilment Centres
  • Pharmaceutical & Healthcare
  • Grocery and FMCG
  • 3PL / Parcel Logistics
  • Others
• By Payload Capacity
  • Up to 5 kg
  • 5-10 kg
  • Above 10 kg
• By Deployment Model
  • Capital Purchase (CapEx)
  • Robots-as-a-Service (RaaS)
• By Geography
  • North America
    • United States
    • Canada
    • Mexico
  • South America
    • Brazil
    • Argentina
    • Colombia
    • Rets of South America
  • Europe
    • Germany
    • United Kingdom
    • France
    • Italy
    • Spain
    • Rest of Europe
  • Asia
    • China
    • Japan
    • South Korea
    • India
    • Singapore
    • Rest of Asia
  • Middle East and Africa
    • Saudi Arabia
    • United Arab Emirates
    • South Africa
    • Rest of Middle East and Africa

Geography Analysis

North America captured 36.70% of 2025 turnover by combining mature e-commerce, advanced logistics real estate, and sustained automation budgets. U.S. industrial companies now assign 25-30% of capital investment to automation compared with 15-20% before the pandemic, reinforcing demand for piece-picking solutions. Tax incentives further sweeten returns, and early movers like Staples report measurable productivity gains from intelligent picking cells.

Asia-Pacific is expanding at a 54.9% CAGR and may eclipse North America before 2030. Government-backed initiatives in Japan support robotics as part of national productivity policy, while China’s logistics automation spending surpassed CNY 1.167 trillion (USD 160.5 billion) in 2023. foreign direct investment of USD 230 billion in 2023 fuels new fulfillment hubs that jump directly to advanced automation architectures.

Europe shows steady expansion driven by Germany’s density of 415 robots per 10,000 workers and a venture ecosystem that raised EUR 2 billion (USD 2.2 billion) for robotics in 2023 sifted. Nomagic securing EUR 41.5 million (USD 44.7 million) to broaden AI picking underscores continuing appetite for specialized disruptors. South America and the Middle East & Africa are nascent, yet rising logistics investment and ecommerce adoption signal future inflection once proven solutions drop in cost and complexity.

List of Companies Covered in this Report:

• RightHand Robotics Inc.
• Berkshire Grey Inc.
• Covariant
• Plus One Robotics Inc.
• Universal Robots A/S (Teradyne Inc.)
• Locus Robotics Corp.
• Ocado Group plc
• KNAPP AG
• Dematic Group (KION AG)
• Swisslog Holding AG
• GreyOrange Pte Ltd
• Mujin Inc.
• XYZ Robotics Inc.
• Nomagic Inc.
• Osaro Inc.
• Nimble Robotics Inc.
• Lyro Robotics Pty Ltd
• Robomotive BV
• Hand Plus Robotics Pte Ltd
• SSI SCHAEFER Group
• Daifuku Co. Ltd.

Additional Benefits:

• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
• 3 months of analyst support