Never stand in line again: Edeka rolls out high-tech shopping trolleys throughout Germany

Edeka offers its customers a special kind of shopping experience with new shopping trolleys. The trolleys are designed to make shopping easier and faster.

Hamburg – The shopping trolley has blossomed in recent years.

In the past, it was only used by shoppers to conveniently bring their errands to the checkout.

Now it is developing more and more into a high-tech product with enormous computing power.

Apparently, this type of trolley not only has advantages for customers, but also for retailers.

High-tech shopping trolley for Edeka: Germany-wide rollout started

Edeka is now bringing shopping trolleys with scanners and touchscreen computers to some of its supermarkets across Germany.

This is reported by the

.

The models from two providers are used, which look similar on the outside, but sometimes have different functionalities.

The Edeka Region Minden-Hannover relies on the "Easy Shopper" model from the Munich start-up Pentland Firth, in which Edeka Minden-Hannover has a 55 percent stake.

The model has already been in use for over two years, and customers should already be able to use it in over 130 shops.

The remaining Edeka regions have now started the rollout of the similar "Smart Shopper".

The computer and software for the vehicle come from the start-up KBST, the hardware from Expresso, both companies come from Kassel.

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The "Easy Shopper" is in use in the Edeka region of Minden

© rech/imago

Now shopping: Goods are simply packed after scanning

With the “Easy Shopper” you first have to install the app on your smartphone.

After starting the app, a QR code appears, which is read with the scanner of the shopping cart.

Alternatively, a DeutschlandCard can be used.

Then you do your shopping by scanning the desired product.

It is then shown on the touch display.

After confirmation, you can simply place the goods in the trolley and they will be added to the invoice summary display.

Some stores have integrated in-store navigation into the display so that the customer can quickly find the desired product.

Edeka's high-tech shopping trolley: built-in scales are designed to deter thieves

Once you have done your shopping, you go to a special cash register.

There, however, the customer does not have to place all the goods on the belt as usual.

It is enough to confirm the purchase, then you can pay.

If you have stored a payment method in your app, you don't even have to stop at the checkout.

The “smart shopper” is not that mature yet.

Here you simply scan the goods and put them in the shopping cart.

When you have finished shopping, you go to the special checkout and pay without having to unpack your goods again.

However, the "smart shopper" supplier plans to retrofit in-store navigation and integrated payment methods at a later date.

How are shoplifters deterred?

Both shopper versions from Edeka have weighing technology.

The trolley sounds an alarm if more weight is put into the trolley than the scanned items have.

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Users of the high-tech shopping trolleys at Edeka: merchants are happy about high sales

many of the independent Edeka retailers are

enthusiastic about the system.

Consumers were particularly pleased about the advantage of being able to pack the goods in their private bags directly on the shelves in the correct order.

But that's only one side.

An Edeka merchant in the Minden-Hannover region states that he makes around 30 percent of his total sales with his "Easy Shoppers".

An Edeka merchant from Fürth states that just four weeks after presenting his "Smart Shoppers" on Fridays and Saturdays, he is already generating ten percent of sales in his supermarket with users of the system.

Even if both shopping trolleys with self-scanning should continue to prevail: None of the Edeka retailers assume that all consumers want to use this technology.

Aldi has tested smart shopping carts in a branch.

Cameras and artificial intelligence should make waiting at the checkout superfluous.

List of rubrics: © Geisser/Imago