US grocery stores trial AI-powered self-checkout shopping carts

Veeve AI-powered self-checkout shopping cart for Albertsons US grocery stores
AI-POWERED: Customers scan and add items to the self-checkout cart and pay without visiting a checkout

Two US stores owned by retail giant Albertsons are trialling a self-checkout shopping trolley that enables customers to select and scan items while they shop, compare products and receive personalised recommendations via an on-cart screen, and pay for their purchases by inserting or tapping their payments card without visiting a checkout.

The AI-powered trolley is also fitted with cameras and sensors that enable it to build a 3D model of every product in the store so that over time it can ‘learn’ to recognise items when they are placed in a cart without the customer needing to scan them.

The stores — in Eagle, Idaho, and Pleasanton, California — are testing technology developed by Seattle-based startup Veeve that can also be used to enable customers to order products that are not on the physical store shelves for home delivery.

“The cart has multiple cameras and sensors,” Veeve CEO Shariq Siddiqui told Idaho news outlet Boise Dev.

“They are recording every time you put an item in — takes video from four diff cameras and building a 3D model of every product in the store. Then, in six months, you don’t have to barcode scan.”

“The idea for the cart is not just about checkout,” Siddiqi added.

“You could ask a customer to […] punch in their number and create a more immersive experience than doing it at the end when you check out.”

“He said the cart could pull up product recommendations, show coupons, display a shopping list and more,” the Boise Dev report continues.

“‘When you are buying tortilla chips, you can be offered to buy salsa with it.’

“It also adds possibilities that are common in online shopping but less so in store.

“Siddiqui said the Veeve platform could allow shoppers to buy something for delivery that might not be on the shelf.

“He noted that Campbell’s makes more varieties of soup than most stores could carry.

“‘What if that cream of mushroom you really wanted isn’t on the shelf. How do you buy it if it’s not in the store? You could add it to your virtual cart and have it delivered, bringing that endless aisle experience.’”

A short video shows how the shopping cart works.

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