More major changes coming to #retail …
____

Aldi is testing a completely new concept: Smartphones are becoming a must when shopping

Aldi wants to achieve the optimized processes using artificial intelligence (AI) and smart solutions. The specific plan: Customers should check in and out using the QR code of a corresponding app. When leaving the store, the customer app should also be used to pay completely contactlessly and automatically.

Customers can also use the app to request refunds, manage their purchase histories or provide feedback. "Digitization must support our core strategy and make purchasing even easier for our customers," explains Kashif Ansari, Chief Strategy Officer at ALDI.

All other processes in the test branch are carried out using sensors in the shelves and the camera technology used in the store, explains Aldi. The cameras would record the shopping movements in the store and assign them to the right customer. For data protection reasons, facial data would be filtered out directly and not processed [IAF: is this supposed to make me feel better?].

The test will initially start in the Netherlands - in a branch in Utrecht. To this end, Aldi is working with the technology company Trigo, which is developing AI-supported infrastructure for retail stores.

Initially, the test should run for twelve months. What is on the test bench is whether the automatic payment process simplifies the processes. Specifically, it is about "future uses of the technology".

https://www.ruhr24.de/service/aldi-neu-kassierer-ohne-kasse-ki-bezahlen-smartphone-utrecht-kunden-holland-deutschland-91032620.html