Retail technology innovation of the week: spotlight on sterling work by EDEKA Jaeger and Walmart
Retail Technology Innovation of the Week is a new series brought to you by RTIH and sponsored by 3D Cloud by Marxent, highlighting stand out deployments, launches, and initiatives by retailers and tech suppliers.
Every week, we will showcase forward thinking tech plays that have impressed our Editor and the Retail Technology Innovations Report judging panel, alongside the publication of the 2024 report.
So far, we’ve flagged up sterling work being done by Ocado Retail, Decathlon, Lacoste, Downtown Spirits, TalkShopLive, Huck’s, Rovertown, Wing, Nobody’s Child, IKI, Pixevia, Walmart, A.L.C., Archive, Therabody, Outform, Kingfisher, PMC, Boots UK, Ocula Technologies, Grace O'Malley Irish Whiskey, Metacask, Ikea, Carrefour Belgium, Matalan, and McDonald’s.
And this week we’re focusing on EDEKA Jaeger, part of the EDEKA Group, which is now offering customers in the 24/7 store at Stuttgart Airport the opportunity to authorise the purchase of age restricted goods like alcoholic beverages at self-service checkouts using automatic age recognition powered by Yoti.
The AI-based solution Vynamic Smart Vision I Age Verification from Diebold Nixdorf complements the previously required approval by store attendants.
This speeds up transactions at the self-service checkouts and gives employees more time for customer service and other responsibilities.
On average, age verification checks are needed in approximately 22% of all transactions in retail stores.
This has a significantly negative impact on throughput times and consumer flow in the self-service area, leading to longer waiting times. Vynamic Smart Vision | Age Verification enables customers to prove their age in less than ten seconds without any staff interventions.
As soon as an age restricted item is scanned at the self-service checkout, the system asks the customer whether automatic age recognition is desired.
Once consent has been given, the customer's face characteristics are analysed using a camera installed on the system and sophisticated AI algorithms to verify their age in real-time.
If the age of the shopper is above a predefined threshold, the transaction can continue. The employees only need to check those customers who fall below this age limit or who have opted out of automatic age recognition.
Florian Jaeger, owner of the 24/7 store at Stuttgart Airport, says: "The creation of quick, simple purchasing processes for customers and my employees is key. This is what makes our store at Stuttgart Airport so attractive for busy travellers. To achieve this, I am always open to explore new innovations.”
“Thanks to AI support, we have already been able to drastically reduce employee interventions for age checks."
In the first week alone, over 80% of age restricted goods purchased at EDEKA Jaeger in the Stuttgart Airport were automatically approved. The system is GDPR compliant as the process does not involve facial recognition, nor does it store images or other customer information.
Matt Redwood, Vice President, Retail Technology Solutions, at Diebold Nixdorf, says: "AI technologies for automated age verification have enormous potential to reduce a typical friction point during the shopping process.”
“We are delighted to be working with EDEKA Jaeger to ensure that customers can prove their age in seconds directly at the self-service checkout, allowing them to get to their next appointment or flight faster."
Honourable mention to…
Walmart is now able to sell physical goods directly to users inside Roblox.
From tihs week, Walmart Discovered users will be able to have real-life items shipped directly to their doorsteps. They will be greeted with a new storefront showcasing virtual twins of select items sold at physical Walmart stores.
The feature will be gated specifically to users aged 13 or older in the United States only.
“There is a traditional sort of checkout flow where you put your name, your address and your credit card information, and that’s all powered by a Walmart API that handles all of the information super securely - it’s very safe,” Walmart Director of Brand Experiences and Strategic Partnerships Justin Breton, told Digiday.
“And once you hit checkout, you’ll get your confirmation email from Walmart. All of that is handled by us on the back end, the user will then get their item in the mail, but the virtual twin is granted immediately back on Roblox.”
A pilot will run through the month of May, during which time Roblox will not receive a cut of item sales, with all revenues going directly to Walmart. The short-term aim here is to gauge users’ willingness to purchase physical goods on the platform.
“We are excited to start testing real-world commerce as a key step towards enabling it in the future for our community of creators and brands,” said Roblox VP of Economy Enrico D’Angelo.
“Shopping for virtual items is already an important element of how people engage and express themselves on Roblox daily, so our goal is to gather feedback, test the technology and learn what resonates with Gen Z customers the most when it comes to shopping for physical items.”
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