Carrefour Belgium Reaches 12 BuyBye Stores With Two Charleroi Hospital Modules

Carrefour Belgium has reached 12 autonomous BuyBye stores, opening two new modules inside a Charleroi hospital and planning three units in Lyon with Carrefour France. Retail Technology Innovation Hub reported the milestone on October 26, 2026.

Carrefour Belgium's Hospital BuyBye Modules

A Carrefour Belgium spokesperson said: "Making our customers' lives easier is also being present where a traditional store cannot be. With the opening of two new modules in the heart of the Charleroi hospital and soon three units in Lyon in partnership with Carrefour France, our AI driven autonomous concept is a new strategic milestone."

The spokesperson said the hospital setting meets the needs of caregivers and visitors with fresh, balanced and affordable meal solutions available 24/7. One module sits at the hospital reception desk, accessible to patients, employees and visitors. A second is close to the operating theatre entrance, aimed at the 200 to 300 professionals working there so they can eat quickly during shifts.

Carrefour Belgium's network already covers hospitals, army bases, stations, airports, campuses and corporate offices. Earlier this year the retailer opened its largest automated BuyBye store to date in Hasselt, with eight refrigerated display cases and a cash machine. That store sits at the Corda Campus, described as one of Europe's largest technology and innovation campuses, and is open seven days a week from 8 a.m. To 10 p.m. It was the seventh BuyBye location to go live.

Previous BuyBye sites include the Service Center in Zaventem, the Carrefour Express in Yvoir, the ibis hotels at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, Brussels-South Station, the NATO base SHAPE in Mons and the MontLégia Hospital in Liège.

Carrefour Belgium's Earlier 2026 Launches

Carrefour Belgium launched a ChatGPT-based shopping assistant with Mealz.ai in August 2026, letting customers create shopping lists, check availability and place orders, RetailDetail EU reported. In September 2026 the retailer said it would test Instacart's AI-powered Caper shopping carts in two Waterloo stores, one company-owned and one franchised, with the carts weighing produce, displaying totals and enabling self-checkout payment, RetailDetail EU reported. Carrefour Belgium and Trendy Foods also launched Shopeez, a concept for independent neighborhood stores modeled after France's Proxi, opening the first 10 stores as a pilot with access to over 15,000 items and a goal of 100 stores, RetailDetail EU reported.

Carrefour Belgium's Next BuyBye Steps

The three BuyBye units in Lyon are planned in partnership with Carrefour France, according to the report. The 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards ceremony is scheduled for November 4 at The HAC in Central London.