WalkOut, developer of an autonomous end-to-end checkout platform, bolsters retail chains with a frictionless alternative checkout system that mounts on top of existing carts and baskets, transforming them into smart points of sale.
By utilizing machine vision to identify each item placed into or removed from the cart, WalkOut’s smart cart reduces customer checkout inefficiencies and boosts convenience.
Grocery stores of all sizes are always seeking ways to improve the customer experience and cut costs. Measures stores take often include the integration of technologies to, for instance, reduce waste and speed up the checkout process.
First, stores began utilizing self-checkout. Now, the smart cart has become the next-generation technology.
Smart carts, however, can cost retailers between $5,000 to $10,000 per unit, according to Prof. Sylvain Charlebois at Canada’s Dalhousie University—and that’s without accounting for the additional infrastructural costs of integrating them.
More About WalkOut Smart Cart
WalkOut tackles the issue by offering an alternative, more cost-accessible solution for smart carts, cutting labor costs, and reducing checkout times to zero.
WalkOut’s smart cart-based technology utilizes machine learning, multiple cameras, and computer vision technology in order to identify items in real-time as shoppers collect their items.
Through a large touchscreen on the cart, it also communicates with the customer to offer personalized preferences, store navigation, supplementary product information, and relevant promotions, based on the shopper’s history and location in the store.
Unlike other solutions, it doesn’t rely on barcode scanning or the weighing of chosen products through an embedded scale, but rather identifies them through computer vision in order to make registering items much more seamless.
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Because WalkOut’s technology can be mounted on top of existing shopping carts or baskets, no infrastructural changes to the store are required. This improves customer insight and interaction for businesses and removes the burden of item errors and installations.
“We’re different from the smart carts that you’ve seen emerge recently, in that our solution only uses computer vision,” said Assaf Gedalia, CEO and co-founder of WalkOut.
“This enables us to really pragmatize the smart shopping experience, by maximizing value for customers through personalized engagement and streamlining the experience, while keeping it as easily implementable as possible for budding retail chains,” he said.
Recently, the company completed a round of funding raising $2 million from notable investors including Ariel Maislos, who has also joined the board at WalkOut. Investment also came in from Nielsen, Ehud Weinstein, Co-founder & Chairman at Tensera Networks, and Leiman Schlussel, one of the largest local food distributors.
