Walmart opens first cashier-less store in US | Progresiv
Walmart has opened a Neighborhood Market in Miami, Florida which features only self-checkouts. 
This new development is a first for Walmart in the US, although last year it opened a store in Chile, under the Lider Express banner which was also comprised of self-checkouts only. Walmart plans on assessing the impact on the customer experience, including checkout speed. Checkout hosts will be available to support customers who may want their shopping scanned, while its ‘Checkout with me’ programme will also be available at the store. This enables customers to checkout directly with a range of associates in different areas of the store.
The retailer has been investing significantly in self-checkouts, expanding their use across its network. Within its Supercenters, most stores feature two banks of self-checkouts alongside traditional belted checkouts. Walmart has also deployed new technology in the self-checkout area. It has equipped self-checkouts in around 1,000 Supercenters in the US with AI technology which has helped it to improve the accuracy of customer scans and reduce error rates. In partnership with technology company, Everseen, the checkouts help to identify when products have been mis-scanned. Overhead cameras compare customer baskets with scanning data and identify unusual scanning movements. Any potential issues are flagged to an app accessed by a checkout host.
Beyond self checkouts, retailers are testing various technologies to improve the checkout experience. Many have been deploying self-scanning solutions, including Walmart Canada, while others have started to examine the possibilities with checkout-free environments. Ahold Delhaize has partnered with AiFi and Tesco is working with Trigo Vision to test various solutions at their home office stores. Most of the development in this area has been accelerated by the development to the Amazon Go format, featuring its ‘just walk-out’ technology. Having launched to the public in 2018, the format has grown to 24 stores across four US cities. (retailanalysis.igd.com)
