Ahold Delhaize USA pilots Amazon Go-style store | Progresiv
Ahold Delhaize USA is piloting a small-format store concept, called “lunchbox,” that uses frictionless checkout technology. 
Retail Business Services (RBS), Ahold Delhaize USA’s services arm, said it’s now testing lunchbox at its office in Quincy, Mass. For the project, RBS has partnered with digital solution provider UST Global to develop the store, which will enable customers to make cashierless purchases by scanning in as they enter, selecting items and then walking out.
RBS noted that lunchbox can be set up in as soon as six weeks at a “lean cost,” making it more efficient than other frictionless checkout store concepts. The application technology was created in RBS’ innovation lab and tech hub.
“Lunchbox is an easy, fresh shopping alternative,” said Paul Scorza, executive vice president for IT and CIO at Retail Business Services. “Once registered, shoppers simply scan in, shop and walk out. It’s that easy. And it offers fresh, healthy options 24/7. You can grab a snack, a salad, fresh fruit or even a carton of milk on your way home.”
An RBS proprietary app admits shoppers into the lunchbox store and charges shoppers for purchases. To give customers more payment options, the app’s wallet integrates services such as PayPal, Venmo, Apply Pay and Google Pay.
Products removed from the store’s shelves are detected by artificial intelligence (AI) running on Intel Core i5 and i7 processor-based systems optimized with the Intel Distribution of OpenVINO toolkit. Likewise, anonymous body skeletal tracking connects the products taken to the shopper who removed them from the shelf.
According to RBS, lunchbox was able to use existing Intel-based point-of-sale systems and deploy on-premise AI at maximum performance by leveraging the Intel Distribution of OpenVINO toolkit.
“We believed in this concept so much we brought it to our own office,” Scorza explained. “Our cafeteria that serves more than 1,000 associates was being remodeled, and we were looking for a quick, cost-effective solution to give associates access to beverages, snacks and fresh items at a variety of hours. We implemented this solution in just six weeks. Today, thousands of shops, with groups of up to 12 in the store at the same time, have been successfully completed.”
No specific timetable has been set for the lunchbox pilot, but plans call for a lunchbox store to be tested at another RBS office in 2020, an RBS spokeswoman said. Talks about a future rollout of the concept are ongoing, she added. (www.supermarketnews.com)
