Systems to erase checkout lines are on the grow, as exemplified by these three new installations:
• A Pick & Go store in Munich is Germany’s first fully autonomous, cashier-less supermarket. Installed at a store operated by grocer REWE Group (Cologne, Germany) is a system by Trigo (Tel Aviv), a computer vision company that builds autonomous checkout and retail analytics systems. The new supermarket allows customers to walk in, select their items off the shelves and leave without having to pay at checkout. The Trigo system uses computer vision algorithms – running off data produced by ceiling-mounted cameras and shelf sensors – to create a 3-D “digital twin” of the store. The system logs shoppers’ movements inside the store and correlates that with data on items they pick from the shelves. The algorithms can also be used to monitor inventory levels in real time and detect items that have been misplaced or stolen.
Photography: Courtesy of Rewe
• The T-Mobile Center sports/entertainment complex in Kansas City, Mo., is now home to the 816 Market, which utilizes Amazon’s Just Walk Out shopping experience. Guests entering the store can insert their credit card or a hover of their palm at the entry gates, select their desired snacks and/or beverages and leave without going through a checkout line or self-serve kiosk.
Photography: Courtesy of MACS
• Convenience store operator MAPCO (Franklin, Tenn.) has opened its first checkout-free store. At its latest locale in Brentwood, Tenn., the system by Grabango (Berkeley, Calif.) lets shoppers skip the line with one-second checkout. Shoppers use the Grabango app for Apple or Android instead of checking out. The experience is fully contactless; shoppers simply select the items they want and are billed through the app.