🤖 The Future of Shopping: How Robots and AI are Changing the Retail Industry
The retail industry is facing a labor shortage, and retailers are turning to technology to find solutions. At the National Retail Federation conference in New York City, I saw firsthand how robots and AI are filling in the gaps for humans and shaping the future of the shopping experience.
🛍️ Image Recognition for Inventory Management
Over the years, we've seen more robots helping humans at factories, doing things like sorting products or pulling boxes from various aisles. But this year's NRF show had way more talk about using computer intelligence for things like image recognition to be a replacement for human eyeballs.
Companies like to talk about finding tools to help in today's labor shortage, and sometimes not having enough workers is because companies are not paying a high enough salary to attract those workers. Regardless, the show floor had many examples of expensive systems to keep an eye on store inventory and the checkout process.
At Edify, I saw how image recognition is changing the very annoying self-checkout process. There's a camera always looking down at what you are scanning, and it can tell exactly what you're putting down. It doesn't matter how I put those bananas down, it knows they are bananas. The camera is good enough to be able to scan that. For anyone trying to be sneaky and get diapers but actually just pay for gum, it's scanned gum. But the image knows it is not gum. I try to pay quickly, it's not going to let you pay.
NCR is taking this to another level. Here, you could just throw various items all at once down on the surface at any angle. We have a camera up top, so you could just kind of throw your stuff on as you're shopping. This kind of system makes sense at places like stadiums or gas stations where maybe you have an item that doesn't typically have a barcode, like a plate of nachos. It'll be able to recognize it and have you move right along.
Google is also in the game now, using its image recognition smarts. It can tell the difference between many different versions of a product on a shelf at many different angles. This is their shelf check solution where you can take fixed cameras that I might already have and be able to scan the shelves. It knows something's wrong, something's amiss. Maybe a kid took the marshmallows and put them back where the cream cheese goes. Well, a camera is going to be able to scan that. I know something's remiss, and maybe they're low on stock.
🤖 Automated Robots for Cleaning and Restocking
What makes more sense is having a big automated robot like Brain OS. This has a lot of different sensors to be customized to whatever a company needs, but it also can stay on the shelves and mop the floor at the same time.
📱 Mobile Checkout and Self-Service
For me, the point of shopping is when you need something really quick at the store, but they've locked the thing you need behind something because it's high value or maybe it's just stolen a lot. So, you have to normally request an associate, ring a little bell, sit there, and wait. But now, there's a textual code. If I need these razors to unlock the case, I still could call somebody. I can press to request an associate to come by, or if I have no patience, I could use my cell phone. It tells me about privacy that my phone number is not going to be used for anything other than just accessing this merchandise. Put the code in right, and it'll unlock it and grab what you need. But if I start grabbing a lot of stuff really oddly, I might set something off. If I left the door open too long, that's another warning sign. So, that associate is coming by to the tear odd behavior. You have a camera right here, and I just gave my phone number. The company says that they're starting tests on this kind of technology at CBS, at Walgreens, and a lot of other places. You may start seeing this pop-up here and there.
We're seeing checkout-free examples in different forms. Maybe you're a little uncomfortable with having a bunch of cameras overhead. Maybe you don't want to enter your phone number in. In this particular case, all you do is scan your credit card and go in. A lot of people can actually be in this space at the same time. The computer is knowing who I walked in with. We're one party, we're one tab, but there could be like 20 people all just grabbing things. These different types of sensors can be customized to what they want. It's using a combination of the one camera but also different shelves. These are weighted, so it knows if I picked up a Monster energy drink or the Smart Hook nose. I picked up a bag of candy or if I put it back even. You can retrofit, so in a refrigerator that maybe someone already has one of these types of coolers, they don't want to buy a whole new one. All you need to do is insert sensors on the bottom for weight. That way, they don't have to buy a whole new cooler. I walk out, and that's it. It's kind of weird.
🤔 The Future of Retail
When it comes to the labor shortage, we're seeing more examples of stores that are just very small, almost like a vending machine type store where you just walk in, and cameras are tracking exactly what you're buying. Here's an example of a store that is all over Poland. It's called Japka, and all you would do to enter is just tap in your card. So, before I go in, I have to also give them my phone number. That's where we're going to get the receipt. They can make this store as big or small as they need, but in this example, there are 24 cameras on top tracking whatever I grab and put back, and there are about 500 different products in here that they can do, but they could be as big as 5,000 if they need it to be.
The real-world application of these technologies is still evolving, and we'll have to see where it goes. Thanks for watching. I'm Bridget Carey, still a human doing a human job. I'll see you next time.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Image recognition technology can make the checkout process faster and more efficient.
- Automated robots can help with cleaning and restocking, reducing the need for human labor.
- Mobile checkout and self-service options can save time and reduce the need for human labor.
- Checkout-free stores can provide a convenient shopping experience.
Cons
- Customers may be uncomfortable with the amount of personal information they have to give up to use these technologies.
- The use of cameras and other surveillance technology may raise privacy concerns.
- The cost of implementing these technologies may be prohibitive for some retailers.
🌟 Highlights
- Retailers are turning to technology to find solutions to the labor shortage.
- Image recognition technology can make the checkout process faster and more efficient.
- Automated robots can help with cleaning and restocking, reducing the need for human labor.
- Mobile checkout and self-service options can save time and reduce the need for human labor.
- Checkout-free stores can provide a convenient shopping experience.
🙋♀️ FAQ
Q: Will these technologies replace human workers?
A: It's unlikely that these technologies will completely replace human workers, but they may reduce the need for some types of labor.
Q: Are these technologies expensive to implement?
A: Yes, some of these technologies can be expensive to implement, which may make them prohibitive for some retailers.
Q: Will customers be comfortable with the use of cameras and other surveillance technology?
A: Some customers may be uncomfortable with the use of cameras and other surveillance technology, which could limit the adoption of these technologies.
Q: Will these technologies make shopping more convenient?
A: Yes, these technologies have the potential to make shopping more convenient by reducing wait times and streamlining the checkout process.
Resources:
- https://www.voc.ai/product/ai-chatbot
