Russian retailer X5 Retail Group has announced that it is testing 'Helping Tills', a new self-checkout machine with voice assistance that will help customers.
The new self-checkouts will be rolled out in X5’s Pyaterochka supermarket chain. The user interface has been designed to match the retail chain's style and customer experience, making it easy and convenient to use.
The interface will also be available in English and in Chinese, for customers who don’t speak Russian. A store employee will be available to assist users of the new tills and to check the IDs of customers buying alcohol and cigarettes.
Pilot Test
The first machines have already been introduced in two Moscow stores, and the retailer said that self-checkout zones with up to six machines will be opened in ten Pyaterochka stores in the city by the end of 2018.
The machines will increase the number of open tills in Pyaterochka stores, thus greatly reducing queue times and allowing for more active engagement from employees in selling spaces.
The testing process is due to finish this coming December, yet results from the early pilot tests indicate that the new tills will be used for 50% of customer purchases.
X5 experts will look at the tills' performance and fault tolerance, and make final updates to the voice interface. In addition, they will work out the most effective ways to communicate promotions and determine which payment methods are the most popular among Helping Till users.
Helping Tills accept cash and all bank cards, as well as loyalty points and coupons. Self-checkout users can also earn or spend Helping Card programme points.
This year has been busy for X5, in terms of innovative technologies. The retailer has already rolled out three unique labelling technologies and automated planograms, and it has also entered into a strategic partnership with the Republic of Tatarstan, which will focus on innovation and the development of new technologies.
Most recently, X5 announced that it had tested video analytics and computer vision technology based on neural networks and AI, which, it said, will benefit its planogram control process.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Aidan O'Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
