Tesco latest supermarket giant to launch cashier-less store
Following in the footsteps of Amazon, UK supermarket giant Tesco is the latest retailer to venture into cashier-less technology to offer customers a more convenient ‘just walk out’ shopping experience.
The Trigo-powered technology enables shopping items to be automatically added to a digital shopping basket as customers pick them up from the shelves. This means that shoppers will be able to enter the Tesco store, select the items they want, pay on their device and leave.
This new way of shopping is made possible thanks to a hidden mechanism in the shelf weight censors called a load cell, which is a transducer which converts force into a measurable electrical output, essentially measuring weight.
The load cells enable the shelf weight sensors to register when a shopper has put an item back on the shelf, if they change their mind, for instance. This helps to keep track of the produce the consumer is purchasing. Once the produce is scanned, items are added to the virtual cart, bypassing the checkout as there is no requirement for a traditional point of sale terminal.
Tesco has been trialing the technology, which uses computer-vision-powered tech that supports checkout-free retail experiences, at its Welwyn Garden City store used by staff at its HQ in London.
Ken Murphy, Tesco CEO, said they would be extending the technology to another store “in the coming weeks and months.”
He also added: “One of the joys of machine learning is it is continuously improving, so we’re feeling confident that we can put it into another store with higher traffic.”
The store is set to be the recently refurbished Tesco Express site in High Holborn, where new pay gates and an array of cameras in the ceiling have been installed.
Retail Week magazine revealed that the store “is destined to be the first public-facing Tesco store equipped with its Trigo-powered version of Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology”.
Tesco follow in the footsteps of tech giant Amazon who this year launched a number of till-free convenience stores across London, where shoppers can scan a smartphone app to enter, pick up produce, and walk away. Shortly after they receive an email receipt and are billed from their Amazon account.
The Amazon Fresh stores are using the same ‘just walk out’ technology the firm uses at its more than 20 Amazon Go and Amazon Go Grocery stores in the US.
Here at TyTek Industries HQ, we have vast experience in manufacturing load cells. If you’re looking for a load cell manufacturer or want to understand more about the use of load cells take a ‘load off’ and call us today.
Source: Evening Standard