Geek+ robots kept the sales of football shirts flowing in the USA during the recent Fifa Club World Cup.

The Chinese robotic warehouse automation firm deployed its shelf-to-person PopPick system at Soccer.com’s US fulfilment centre. This streamlined operations for the summer peak and this year’s Club World Cup, and is ready for next year’s 2026 Fifa World Cup.

Soccer.com’s Geek+-powered warehouse processes up to 70,000 units daily during peak season – more than double its non-peak volume – while achieving 99.9% picking accuracy. The system’s agility ensures timely deliveries as fans rush to support their favourite teams.

Highlights include three times faster order fulfilment compared with manual processes, 4.3 million units processed with Geek+ in 2025, and same-day shipping for 90% of US orders, even during peak demand.

“When your team wins, you want their jersey now, not next week,” said Brent Shotwell, production manager at Soccer.com. “Geek+ robotics help us deliver that excitement faster, while keeping our operations scalable for the next big tournament.”

Lit Fung, managing director for Geek+ in the Americas, added: “This project exemplifies how smart robotics are transforming US retail logistics. With the Club World Cup, we showcased how automation meets passion, powering the supply chain behind the sports we love.”

The PopPick system has improved Soccer.com’s operations. Previously, staff manually walked aisles with push carts. Now, robots bring shelves directly to workers, enabling efficient consolidation of multi-item orders – shirts, jackets, cleats and more – into single shipments. In 2024 alone, the warehouse put away and picked four million units of custom and non-custom apparel.

Looking ahead to the 2026 Fifa World Cup, Soccer.com is preparing for a surge.

“With the USA, Mexico and Canada qualifying as hosts, we expect demand to increase tenfold,” said Shotwell. “Thanks to Geek+’s automation, we’re confident in our ability to scale and deliver official match gear faster than ever.”

Geek+ (www.geekplus.com) specialises in autonomous mobile robotics (AMRs), serving more than 800 customers across 40 countries.