Stop N Shop rival supermarket rolls out major change to make life easier for shoppers – see if your area’s affected
[ad_1]
STOP N SHOP rival Wegmans is piloting a new shopping system that could revolutionize the checkout experience.
If the new technology pays off, it could see people reduce the risk of being falsely accused of theft at the self-checkout.
1
The supermarket is trialing new ‘Smart Carts’ which use Artificial Intelligence to scan your cart.
Tech firm Shopic, based in Israel, produces Shop-E equipment with cameras that automatically scan and itemize the products placed in a cart.
The clip-on system uses computer vision to automatically identify products that are added or removed from the shopping cart without using the barcode.
It will alert shoppers to new promotions and will total up the cost of all the products that are being bought.
The new feature with a touch screen panel will allow shoppers to navigate the store and avoid long checkout lines.
Customers can pay via the Smart Cart attachment which is then put back in its holder and the shopper can take the cart to their car for unloading.
The test-run of the device has been launched at two Wegmans stores in New York.
The devices can be seen at the Alberta Drive store in Amherst and at the Monroe Avenue store in Rochester.
In a statement to Winsight Grocery Business, Wegmans public relations manager Tracy Van Auker said the trial is still in its “preliminary stage.”
She said: “We are doing a test-and-learn pilot with smart shopping carts in two stores.
“It is an early stage technology and we’re in the preliminary stage of our pulot.
“As such, we recent selected customers to test the new technology as we take an interactive approach and focus on gathering feedback from a small group of customers.”
Wegmans’ new Shop-E comes after the retailer decided to end its Scan-and-go app in September after three short years.
The company said in an email to customers that because of the high amount of losses, it cannot continue.
“Unfortunately, the losses we are experiencing from this program prevent us from continuing to make it available in its current state,” a company spokesperson said.
The app was created in the early days of the pandemic as a way to offer a careful contactless shopping experience.
This was a major blow to customers as many shoppers loved the product and its efficiency.
Stores are also making losses with their self-checkout kiosks and even innocent shoppers have been accused of theft.
One Wegmans customer had worked a long shift at a hospital and forgot to scan a couple of items at the kiosk.
The mom-of-two from Virginia was accused of petty larceny for which she was found guilty, however she won her appeal over a lack of proof of intent.
The new smart cart technology is hoped to prevent instances such as this and lower losses.
Wegmans is also testing self-serve coffee machines in some of its New York locations.
[ad_2]
Source link
