Retail Analysis

Dawn of the hyper-connected store

30 July 2025

See inside at the world’s largest autonomous store to appreciate how technology will accelerate in-store innovation and development.

The world’s largest autonomous store has been trading for a little over six months. We visited Sonae MC’s Continente Bom Dia in Leiria, Portugal, to experience shopping in the store and to understand more about the technology.

The 1,200 sq. m supermarket, which is powered by Sensei’s proprietary camera vision and weight sensor technology, is very well merchandised and offers over 12,000 SKUs.

Fast facts about the store

The store averages +3,000 daily baskets.
It is taking traffic from surrounding stores.
It is trading above similar stores without the technology.
New products are recognised and updated onto the system via the cameras, without the need for staff intervention.
The store gets shopped by all ages and demographics.
For shoppers, the time saved going through a smart checkout is significant, and a substantial amount of time would be saved on large trolley shops.
Product verification on the screen appears within seconds.

Walking into the future of shopping

On entering the store, it is striking how clean and spacious the environment is. Customers walk through gates that automatically open, without needing to scan in via an app or tap a bankcard or smartphone.

At this point, customers are tracked and given a unique identification code so that the retailer can monitor their actions within the store. No personal details or facial recognition are recorded; instead, customers become a “digital stick person”._{Source: IGD Research, photo of the tracking information from Sensei's innovation lab}

This enables the technology to identify what products customers pick up and put into their bags, baskets or trolleys or if they have consumed products while in the store. The technology then verifies the actions against camera imagery and weight sensors. It is also able to record if products are placed back onto the shelf.

There are approximately 1,700 cameras in the store to help capture the products and customers, along with weight sensors on the shelves that help triangulate where the product is on the shelf.

Speed and ease

All of this technology enables shoppers to have a seamless, quick and easy shopping experience.

Once shoppers have selected all the products they want, they go to one of six smart checkout lanes. At this point, shoppers simply touch a digital button on the checkout unit, and they are presented with all the products they have selected. Shoppers get the chance to verify their order and pay via cash or bankcard.

Shoppers who selected loose produce need to verify the products they have selected, unless they have already done this on the shop floor via weighing scales.

If a few people are shopping together, their selections will be combined once they enter the smart checkout area.

There are four staffed checkouts for shoppers who still prefer to shop more traditionally.

However, going forward, I imagine these traditional checkouts will also be able to be switched on as smart checkouts, as the process for shoppers is very easy, quick, simple and reassuring with the onscreen verification of the products picked up.

What next?

This is a ground-breaking store that sets a new benchmark for an AI-powered hyper-connected retail experience that benefits the shopper, store associates and the retailer.

The data that the store is capturing will be hugely beneficial to Sonae MC and its supplier partners.

As Sensei and Sonae MC move from the learning stage, they will start to be able to use all the information and data it captures to power the store to become more efficient and profitable. For example, the retailer will be able to truly understand customers’ behaviour in the physical store, and insights like this will be hugely beneficial for Sonae MC’s suppliers.

Sonae MC has invested in technology to digitalise the physical store and has arguably created the world’s first hyper-connected supermarket with benefits way beyond just creating a quick and easy shopping environment. It is on the brink of enabling itself and its suppliers’ to access unparalleled data and insights to drive efficiencies and profitability.

The next retail revolution: the hyper-connected store

The industry stands at a pivotal crossroads, where digital innovation meets the shop floor. As technology reshapes every aisle, the race is on to transform physical stores into intelligent, efficient, and profit-driving powerhouses.

To help industry understand what is at stake and what needs to be done to create the hyper-connected store, we have published our hyper-connected store report. Retail Analysis subscribers can access the full report, while non-subscribers can access an abbreviated version.