[Electronics-Talk] FW: [GTTsupport] Sobeys unveils Canada's 1st smart grocery cart, promising a 'frictionless' shopping experience

Fri Oct 25 12:11:07 UTC 2019

Sounds great theoretically. 

Sent from my iPhone

> On Oct 25, 2019, at 07:04, Pamela Dominguez via Electronics-Talk <electronics-talk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> I bet you dollars to doughnuts that it's not!  And I also don't believe that this automated stuff won't cut employees, like they insist.  Pam.
> 
> -----Original Message----- From: Eric Calhoun via Electronics-Talk
> Sent: Thursday, October 24, 2019 10:43 AM
> To: electronics-talk at nfbnet.org
> Cc: Eric Calhoun
> Subject: [Electronics-Talk] FW: [GTTsupport] Sobeys unveils Canada's 1st smart grocery cart, promising a 'frictionless' shopping experience
> 
> 
> 
> Original Message:
> From: "Albert Ruel" <albertruel at gmail.com>
> To: GTTsupport at groups.io
> Subject: [GTTsupport] Sobeys unveils Canada's 1st smart grocery cart,
> promising a 'frictionless' shopping experience
> Date:
> Wed, 23 Oct 2019 21:01:48 -0700
> 
> Well, I wonder if the ACA will ensure that this new system will be
> accessible?
> 
> Sobeys unveils Canada's 1st smart grocery cart, promising a
> 'frictionless'
> shopping experience
> 
> 
> 
> The high-tech devices allow customers to shop, weigh and pay for their
> food
> 
> 
> 
> Nick Boisvert
> 
> CBC News, Oct. 23, 2019 5:42 PM ET | Last Updated: 3 hours ago
> 
> 
> 
> The humble shopping cart, long known for squeaky wheels and uneven
> steering,
> is undergoing a high-tech makeover at a suburban grocery store west of
> Toronto.
> 
> Grocery giant Sobeys Inc. unveiled what it calls Canada's first ever
> "smart"
> shopping cart at its store in Oakville, Ont., on Wednesday.
> 
> 
> 
> The carts feature multiple cameras, a scanner, scale and payment system.
> A
> touchscreen just above the push bar displays on-board items and in-store
> promotions.
> 
> Sobeys executive Mathieu Lacoursiere said the new devices are more than a
> gimmick, and that they'll make the traditional checkout experience
> "frictionless and seamless for our customers.
> 
> "Think about the shopping cart; it hasn't changed for dozens if not
> hundreds
> of years," he added.
> 
> The store in Oakville's Glen Abbey neighbourhood will roll out 10 of the
> new
> smart carts as part of a pilot project. They'll be available to customers
> in
> mid-November following a staff training period.
> 
> Sobeys owns or franchises more than 1,500 grocery stores across Canada,
> including those under the Safeway, IGA, FreshCo, Foodland and Thrifty
> Foods
> banners. The company has not yet revealed plans to expand the smart cart
> program.
> 
> How it works
> 
> The carts - easily distinguished by Sobeys branding and white plastic
> fairings - are slightly smaller than their analog predecessors, but
> significantly more capable.
> 
> For items with a barcode, a customer simply scans the code and drops the
> item inside the cart.
> 
> Produce and bulk items priced according to weight can similarly be tossed
> inside the cart, where a scale that runs under the length of the basket
> calculates a price. It resets after each item is added.
> 
> Customer Stuart Eddy said he was impressed after adding a bag of bulk
> almonds to a smart cart that was already full of groceries. He said the
> interface was intuitive and fast.
> 
> "It's better than the self-checkout," he said with some surprise. "It's
> fantastic."
> 
> Software updates expected within the next year will allow the cart to
> recognize items via basket-facing cameras, meaning customers won't have to
> scan them.
> 
> Caper, the New York-based company that manufactures the carts, says the
> devices will also use artificial intelligence and machine learning to
> recommend ingredients for specific recipes and complementary items.
> 
> For example, Caper co-founder Ahmed Beshry said a customer could add a
> pack
> of spaghetti to the cart, at which point the screen might suggest a pasta
> sauce to go with it.
> 
> The goal, he said, is to create "the perfect shopper experience."
> 
> 'A step further' than the competition
> 
> The Sobeys smart carts are rolling out as major retailers across North
> American are competing to improve the traditional checkout experience.
> 
> Last year, Amazon opened its first checkout-free grocery store in
> Seattle,
> which uses an array of cameras to track what shoppers remove from shelves
> as
> they move through the store. Shoppers are billed after leaving the store
> with credit cards already on file.
> 
> Beshry said the Sobeys smart carts go "a step further" than the Amazon
> system, since the carts will be able to recommend food and locate items
> within the store.
> 
> "We can actually interact with the customer as they're shopping," he told
> CBC Toronto.
> 
> In Canada, self-checkout kiosks have also become the norm in many grocery
> and drug stores, though some customers have expressed frustration at
> increasing retail automation and the threat of job losses.
> 
> Sobeys says 'it's not about cutting' jobs
> 
> Sobeys insists the smart carts are not intended to permanently displace
> human workers. Instead, the company says the technology will allow
> employees
> to spend more time interacting with customers.
> 
> "We're actually able to free up some employees . to be on the floor
> answering customers, talking about the food, helping them choose a recipe
> or
> a product," Lacoursiere said.
> 
> "It's not about cutting."
> 
> But some Sobeys customers have doubts, and envision a future shopping
> experience with fewer human workers around.
> 
> "It probably would take away jobs, and it's really sad," said Maria
> Balay,
> who avoids the store's existing self-checkout kiosks.
> 
> Her husband said he, too, enjoys talking to staff at the store, but he
> was
> nonetheless impressed by the cart.
> 
> "I'll have to try it a few times," he said. "And if I like it, I'll
> definitely use it."
> 
> 
> 
> https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/sobeys-smart-grocery-cart-1.5332658?c
> 
> mp=newsletter-news-digests-toronto
> 
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