Dutch retailer Jumbo is to test a smart shopping cart featuring cameras, a touch screen, and artificial intelligence capabilities at its Jumbo Foodmarkt outlet in Veghel.
The pilot will assess whether the innovation offers potential future added value for customers.
'New Experience'
Jumbo hopes the new innovation will bring about a 'whole new experience' for shoppers.
Various features are included in the trolley – when customers place the products in the cart, they are automatically scanned, while a built-in camera registers all products that are placed therein. Also, the cart features a touchscreen on which the customer's shopping list is visible.
Via this screen, the customer can see at a glance the amount and which products are on offer. In the future, Jumbo also hopes to utilise payment methods through the screen on the shopping cart.
“We are constantly looking at how we can apply the very latest innovations and technologies to improve our services to customers and to continue to surprise and inspire them,” commented Tim Hehenkamp, director of technology and data at Jumbo. "This pilot is a good example of our vision of the supermarket of the future and how we can serve our customers even better in the coming years."
Pilot Phase
During this experimental pilot phase, the smart shopping cart will be tested to see where opportunities and limitations lie.
The system was first trained in a simulated environment to recognise specific products, so that it can distinguish different fruit and vegetables from each other, with the next step being testing on the shop floor by colleagues and customers.
The pilot phase is intended to determine whether the innovation improves the customer's shopping experience, with Jumbo to implement the lessons learned to determine if the carts can be applied in the shops in the long term.
© 2021 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Conor Farrelly. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
