Swisslog delivers New Zealand’s first retail AutoStore system
Swisslog has completed New Zealand’s first retail AutoStore automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS), delivering the high-density robotic fulfilment solution for Ikea at its Sylvia Park store in Auckland.
The installation marks a significant step forward for retail automation in New Zealand, introducing goods-to-person robotic storage and picking technology into a live retail environment for the first time locally.
Designed, integrated and implemented by Swisslog, the system was developed to support growing online and click-and-collect demand while improving fulfilment speed, picking accuracy and operational efficiency.
Located within the back-of-house warehouse area at Ikea Sylvia Park, the AutoStore system removes the need for staff to manually pick products from the Market Hall floor. Instead, robots retrieve products from a high-density storage grid and deliver them directly to ergonomic picking stations.
The system stores around 3,000 high-demand products across 10,000 bins within a compact automated grid designed to maximise storage density while maintaining rapid product access.
When orders are placed, robots navigate the grid to retrieve the required bins before presenting them to operators for picking and consolidation. Orders containing products outside the system are merged with conventionally picked items before final dispatch or customer collection.
This goods-to-person approach significantly reduces walking time while supporting greater picking consistency and improved workplace safety.
“This project demonstrates how advanced automation can be seamlessly integrated into a retail environment to transform fulfilment performance,” says Steve Dimitrovski, sales director, Swisslog Australia and New Zealand.
“By combining AutoStore technology with Swisslog’s integration expertise, Ikea is now equipped with a highly efficient, scalable solution that supports both current demand and future growth,” he says.
According to Swisslog, the system operates with 12 robots and is capable of processing up to 200 items per hour, compared with conventional manual picking rates of around 20 items per hour.
The installation has been designed to scale beyond 500 orders per day, well above current daily online order volumes.
Around half of all parcel orders are expected to be fulfilled entirely within the automated system before dispatch through last-mile delivery operations. Remaining orders are combined with products picked from conventional warehouse racking systems.
The AutoStore installation forms part of Ikea New Zealand’s wider logistics and fulfilment network, which also includes the company’s 20,000m² external distribution warehouse at Māngere.
Opened in late 2024, the Māngere facility was developed by Auckland Airport at The Landing Business Park to support nationwide distribution linked to the Sylvia Park store. The warehouse was designed to support in-store, online and phone sales channels, with multiple 40-foot shipping containers expected to move daily between the external warehouse and the retail site.
The combination of external warehousing and automated in-store fulfilment reflects broader changes occurring across retail and FMCG logistics, where businesses are increasingly investing in automation to support omnichannel retail models and rising customer expectations around delivery speed and order accuracy.
Swisslog says the same AutoStore technology has already been widely adopted internationally across retail, e-commerce and FMCG distribution environments, with more than 400 installations completed globally.
For Ikea, the Sylvia Park project also represents the first in-store AutoStore implementation across Australia and New Zealand.
“AutoStore is a huge leap forward in how we serve customers across Aotearoa,” says Johanna Cederlöf, market manager, Ikea New Zealand.
“By bringing products directly to our co-workers, we’re removing one of the most repetitive parts of the job and creating a safer, more efficient process that ultimately gets Ikea orders out to New Zealand customers sooner,” she says.
Swisslog says projects such as the Ikea installation highlight growing demand for flexible, high-density automation systems capable of supporting evolving retail fulfilment requirements across Australia and New Zealand.