TECHNOLOGY
A FRICTIONLESS SHOPPING LIST
In a recent whitepaper, Frictionless Checkout – The Future of Shopping, Infosys set out the different frictionless shopping models. They include:
Mobile app scan and go The most widely-used approach by retailers, it could be an extension of an existing commerce application, or a new purpose-built application. Vendors including Extenda Retail, Shopreme and MishiPay provide applications that can be tailored for specific organisation needs or easily rebranded. The vendors offer supporting applications, hardware and software and features for customer app, agent app and loss prevention management dashboards.
Dedicated handheld device scan and go Many customers prefer not to use mobile phones for in-store shopping. For this reason, retailers are also providing purpose-built handheld devices as an alternative shopping option. These devices include devices from vendors including Zebra, Datalogic and Honeywell. New generation devices like the Zebra PS30 also provide payon-device options by tap to pay using integrated technology or payments could be made via transferring to till.
Smart carts – dedicated and retrofit options Smart cart is the next-gen revolution in scan-and-go solutions. These carts offer a built-in scanner, use visual AI and weight sensors for loss prevention and to avoid shrinkage. Smart carts also provide opportunities to include floor guidance maps, retail media and better marketing and promotion options. Many smart cart vendors provide a retrofit design option where the device could fit on any existing cart. Vendors in this space include Cust2Mate, Veeve, KBST, Shopic and EasyShopper.
Pick and go Customers can walk into a Pick and Go store, pick up items from shelves and leave without going through a traditional checkout process. Various techniques have been used to implement pay and go solutions. Cameras and sensors installed in the ceiling and shelves recognise customers and their purchases and create a virtual cart on their mobile applications. Visual AI helps to identify products and customer behaviour to prevent loss. In RFID-based systems, customers pick up products and place them in designated RFID boxes at the store exit. The technology detects all cart items that need to be paid for. RFID helps prevent loss by ensuring that all items leaving the store are accounted for.