Aldi is testing smart shopping trolleys in a branch.
Cameras and artificial intelligence should make waiting at the checkout superfluous.
Mülheim an der Ruhr - Anyone who thought that shopping trolleys in discount stores and supermarkets were simply used to conveniently bring their errands to the cash register is living in the past.
In the meantime, those responsible in retail are giving a lot of thought to the trolleys, they are being upgraded to be more customer-oriented * or with anti-theft protection *.
Aldi Süd * goes one step further.
A smart shopping cart should make it possible to shop without queuing at the checkout.
This is reported by the
Lebensmittel Zeitung
.
To this end, the discounter spent a few weeks testing an automated checkout procedure from the Israeli start-up Shopic in a branch in Mülheim.
Aldi Süd tests intelligent shopping trolleys: the system is fitted with a clip
Aldi Süd called the system “Smart Shopper”.
It consists of a normal shopping cart to which a touchscreen device is clip-mounted.
There are two cameras in it, which are used to register every movement of goods in the trolley.
Self-scanning is not necessary, which means that the customer does not have to hold the barcodes in front of the cameras.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is responsible for goods recognition, continuously improving its image recognition ability to differentiate between the various articles.
According to Shopic, the AI can recognize every item placed in the cart and add it to the invoice.
If a product is removed before paying, it will be withdrawn again.
The customer then pays the total receipt recorded by the device at a terminal in the checkout area, without queuing at a normal checkout.
Aldi Süd tests intelligent shopping trolleys: Amazon uses a similar procedure
The test run ended in mid-August, now Aldi Süd is evaluating the data.
The main focus is on how customers accept the intelligent shopping cart and how it fits into the branch's workflow.
How things will continue with the “Smart Shopper” at Aldi Süd is currently still open.
Amazon already uses a similar system * in its branches.
But there is one important difference: With the Shopic system, only normal shopping trolleys have to be upgraded.
At Amazon *, on the other hand, hundreds of cameras and countless sensors are installed across the entire store to register purchases.
This is not only significantly more expensive, it is also a major concern for data protectionists.
* Merkur.de is part of IPPEN.MEDIA.
List of rubric lists: © Fleig / Eibner press photo via www.imago-images.de
