Computer Vision Brings Intelligence To Retail Tech

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The average consumer time spent in and out of the grocery store is approximately 41 minutes per trip. But when the checkout lines are long and shoppers spend a lot of time searching for out-of-stock items, the journey quickly becomes longer. Neither consumers, who can quickly lose patience, want it, nor do retailers, who are already facing staff shortages, supply chain disruptions and reduced foot traffic as a result of the pandemic.

This is where cashless payments, inventory management powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and computer vision come into play. Companies, tech giants and startups alike, have taken a variety of approaches over the past few years, using cameras and sensors to identify and recall products, allowing shoppers to quickly pull items off the shelf and walk out without going into the store and standing in line. .

Even with the economy slowing, investors are not showing any signs of investing in this sector these days. Big funding rounds are still in the news, with Tel Aviv-based Trigo announcing a $100 million Series C investment last week, bringing its total funding to about $199 million. According to Crunchbase.

Amazon Go generates many competitors

Six years ago, everyone thought Amazon had a cashless grocery store model with the new Amazon Go. But while many expect the technology to expand, there are still 28 Amazon Go stores around the world, including the recent expansion in India.

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Expansion is the biggest challenge overall, said Brad Jaszynski, market analyst at Gartner. “The biggest technical challenge with computer vision at checkout was scaling the system to serve more customers and a bigger store,” he said. "Also, it should be easier to integrate into existing branches."

With Amazon hesitating, many startups stepped in with its computer vision-based technology aimed at solving problems of scalability and ease of integration. Several startups, such as Caper AI, which acquired Instacart in 2021, and Mashgin have focused on smart gigs and kiosks that use AI. Others, like AiFi and Trigo, focus on the best cameras, off-the-shelf sensors, and dual digital technology. Even though the economy is in the doldrums, it doesn't seem to be giving up opportunities in this particular sector.

See the computer in the shop

According to Michael Gaby, CEO of Trigo, the appeal of computer vision for grocery retailers is that they can gain the skills currently available in e-commerce and bring this smart information to their physical stores.

"It's a much bigger market for wholesalers than the internet market," Gabbay said. "Their confidence [in the technology] is much higher than it was in the last year or two."

To back up this statement, a Gartner study, published late last year, found that 73% of retail respondents plan to increase investment in store technology by 2022.

Additionally, retailers are having to refocus on connecting stores to their entire ecosystem, Yashinsky explained in an email. "Recently, interest and investment have been made in digitizing technology investments in stores, including computer vision at checkout," he said.

Trigo was founded in 2017 by brothers Michael and Daniel Gabbay, who grew up on a kibbutz in northern Israel and served in an elite unit of the IDF in technology positions. The CEO/CTO decided it would be the antidote to the headaches of waiting in long checkout queues.

The store's 3D mapping and computer vision capabilities use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to track customer purchase tabs as they go - even updating totals when items are returned - and they should be billed accordingly upon arrival. Off, no string required. It also monitors stock levels and customers' body language, so it can alert store employees, for example, if it suspects something is hidden in a jacket. And all this without collecting biometric data or facial recognition.

As confusing as it may seem to retailers, all they have to do is work with Trigo to set it up, and once setup is complete - which the company says is usually overnight - nothing else is required and they are given the green light to start using it.

Despite the many competitors and the growing interest in the market as a whole, Gabay is confident that Trigo can differentiate itself from the rest. The company is currently present in supermarket chains around the world, including Wakefern Cooperative in the US, Tesco in the UK, Shufersal in Israel, Aldi Nord in the Netherlands, and REWE in Germany.

“We are also the only startup other than Amazon that is currently focused on supermarkets, not just convenience stores or convenience stores,” Gabay told VentureBeat.

Trigo technology can be used in stores from 3,000 to 5,000 square feet - and is expected to work in stores of up to 10,000 square feet in the future. However, competitor AiFi also claims that it can be used in an area of up to 10,000 square feet. In the same way, the store makes a completely independent store.

The advent of computer vision in retail

Experts predict that by 2030, the global computer vision market will grow to $41 billion. Investing in such technologies is “the logical next step for the industry,” McKinsey analysts Tyler Harris, Alexandra Kuzmanovic, and Jaya Bandranji wrote recently.

"In the past, it seemed unnecessary for retailers to invest in technology - an opportunity to experience or increase the 'success factor' in-store, rather than supporting a critical process," the article said. “Technology available and proven today can help retailers reduce their in-store cost structure while providing a better experience for shoppers and employees.”

In contrast to the current tightening of financial markets, a study by Battery Ventures found that 54% of CEOs plan to increase their technology budget over the next year, and 75% say they plan to increase it at least within the next year. . 5 years.

Yashinsky doesn't expect the boom in computer vision innovation in retail to end anytime soon.

“The ability to secure external customer transactions is just one of the uses of computer vision technology for smart payments,” he said.

He explains that the real power comes from the additional real-time business information: "Retailers who use computer vision for smart payments can use the real-time information to improve decisions."

Editor's Note: This article previously quoted Trigo CEO Michael Gabay as saying that the company, to his knowledge, is the only company working to transform an existing business into a completely independent business. This is a mistake. The company's competitor, AiFi, is doing the same.

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