When EuroShop 2026 opens its doors in Düsseldorf on February 22–26, more than 1,800 exhibitors will showcase the future of retail technology at Europe’s largest industry trade fair. But if recent years are any guide, the future on display may look less like science fiction—and more like operational triage.
“We started this year with a clear message: retail, made simple and efficient,” said Rokas Budvilaitis, Head of Neto Baltic. “For several years now, we’ve seen fewer futuristic—sometimes outright utopian—concepts at these shows. The era of autonomous stores ended before it truly began. Robots and virtual consultants may attract attention, but in today’s retail environment they feel more like gadgets than solutions retailers are ready to deploy at scale.”
Instead, he argues, retailers are grappling with far more fundamental issues—ones that seem almost anachronistic in the digital age: ensuring correct prices across every store in a network, knowing exactly how many units of a product are on hand, closing security gaps at self-checkouts, as well as ensuring that SCOs are accessible for customers with disabilities.
Centralized Pricing and Promotion Control
One of the dominant themes at this year’s show will be centralized control—over pricing, inventory and in-store communication.
“What products are we selling? At what price? What discounts are currently active? Do we actually have the item in stock?” Budvilaitis said. “These are retail fundamentals. But when you need to guarantee that information across 100 or more geographically dispersed stores, it becomes a real operational challenge.”
Electronic shelf label manufacturer Solum plans to unveil its Solum Solutions Platform at EuroShop, integrating ESL price tags and digital promotional displays across an entire store network into a single system. The company will also introduce large-format, full-color ESL displays designed to replace traditional paper promotional signage.
“If we negotiate a promotion on tomatoes, a few clicks ensure the new price is instantly reflected across every store in the chain,” Budvilaitis said. “Digital promotional screens update automatically. There’s no room for human error—no risk that someone forgot or didn’t have time to change a sign.”
Real-Time Inventory Visibility
Inventory accuracy remains another persistent pain point. At EuroShop, Checkpoint Systems, a leader in loss prevention and intelligent supply chain solutions, will showcase RFID technologies that allow retailers to track goods across the entire supply chain—from factory or food production facility to store shelf—and even monitor expiration dates for fresh products.
Specialty retailers, particularly in apparel and footwear, often face discrepancies between system-reported inventory and physical stock. “Products go missing,” Budvilaitis said. “Were they stolen? Never delivered? Misplaced? No one knows.”
RFID, he argues, closes that gap. It enables real-time inventory visibility, reduces the labor required for stock counts, doubles as an electronic article surveillance system, and supports omnichannel models such as buy online, pick up in store.
Traceability in Loss Prevention
In November, Decathlon’s Vilnius store installed the InVue OneKEY system in its athletic footwear section, securing more than 90 locked display cabinets.
InVue OneKEY is a loss prevention platform that allows smart locks throughout a store—on cabinets, drawers, showcases, electronics displays or tobacco units—to be opened with a single programmable key. Each key can be assigned to a specific employee or department, with access rights customized accordingly. InVue’s software records who opened which lock and when, creating a full audit trail.
“Product security and locked displays shouldn’t become barriers for customers—or slow down staff,” Budvilaitis said. “The Decathlon project is a good example of replacing 90 mechanical keys with a single smart one. It reduced losses and simplified daily operations for store associates.”
Making SCOs accessible
As retailers race to expand self-checkout zones, accessibility remains an unresolved fault line. For many shoppers with disabilities, navigating these terminals can still be a frustrating experience. Equal access is no longer just a matter of corporate goodwill; it is codified in the European Accessibility Act, which requires that self-service technologies be usable by people with disabilities on the same terms as everyone else.
At EuroShop, Partner Tech plans to introduce a universal keyboard module designed specifically for wheelchair users. The distinguishing feature: it can be integrated with most self-checkout systems already installed in supermarkets, regardless of manufacturer.
“That means existing terminals can be made accessible without writing off prior investments in checkout hardware,” said R. Budvilaitis.
The company will also unveil another step toward frictionless retail: a self-checkout system operated entirely by voice.
AI at the Self-Checkout
Perhaps the most commercially mature innovation on display will be in self-checkout loss prevention. AI-powered software developed in Lithuania and deployed on Partner Tech self-checkout systems is already operating in six retail chains, across nearly 1,000 checkout lanes.
“We started developing this solution early,” Budvilaitis said. “In many cases, we moved ahead of major self-checkout manufacturers, who until recently offered similar tools more in theory than in practice.”
According to retailers using the system, the Lithuanian-developed ScanWatch AI platform helps prevent roughly €22,000 in losses per day. Automated recognition of unpackaged goods has increased throughput and efficiency in self-checkout zones by 13%.
At EuroShop, new loss prevention scenarios will be presented, including scan simulation (where customers mimic scanning without registering the item), partial scanning, basket-to-bagging area item mismatches, and cases where shoppers leave without paying—or simulate payment.
“These scenarios emerged from real-world deployment,” Budvilaitis said. “The scale of the ScanWatch installation base—and the fact that it has been operating in live retail environments for years—is its competitive advantage. It allows continuous refinement based on actual behavior, not laboratory assumptions.”
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