Employees of French retail chain Monoprix are testing an automated self-service store that uses AI-based product recognition technology to enable them to select and pay for their products without going through a checkout.

Shoppers gain access to the store, which is open 24 hours a day and stocks some 300 snacking and hygiene products, by scanning their credit card.

“Technologies deployed allow the client to shop easily and efficiently,” says Shekel Brainweigh, the Israel-based startup that developed the store’s product recognition technology.

 “In this store, the client can enter, take the products he wants and go out without going through a cashier system.

“A weighing technology based on IoT allows us to identify the products he has taken. The client then needs to validate his basket to exit the store.”

Following its staff pilot, Monoprix is expected to start rolling out stores open to the public by the end of the year.

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