Aldi Suisse has introduced a digital customer counting system at the entrance to its branches, to maintain social distancing in the wake of the coronavirus epidemic.
In response to the Federal Council's restrictions on access to the retail trade, the Swiss discounter will equip 110 stores, which have a particularly high customer frequency, with the 'crowd monitor' software.
Until coronavirus-related restrictions are lifted, the digital crowd monitor will be responsible for regulating the entrance to Aldi Suisse’s branches, ensuring customers maintain the required social distance between each other.
Based on current regulations, an average Aldi store with a sales area of around 1,000 square metres should accommodate up to 100 people at a time.
Trial Run
Developed by Zurich-based Analysis Simulation Engineering, the new digital monitoring solution has been successfully tested in four branches in Eastern Switzerland (Bazenheid, Niederuzwil, Rickenbach and Sirnach).
After defining in advance the maximum number of people, the crowd monitor performs a bidirectional count of the number of incoming and outgoing customers.
It works like a traffic light: once the maximum number of people has been reached, the smart display at the entrance of the store indicates a temporary 'stop sign' via a red screen. As soon as someone leaves the outlet, the display reverts to green.
© 2020 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine
