Autonomous stores from Rewe Group’s Iki show shopping basket in real time with Pixevia
Rewe Group’s Lithuanian sales division Iki is opening more autonomous convenience stores this year, which are open around the clock. As with the first scanless store, which Iki Lietuva opened in Vilnius last year under the name Iki Express 24/4, the retailer is relying on technology from Lithuanian technology provider Pixevia. According to Pixevia, customers receive the entire item list of their shopping basket in real time – in contrast to stores equipped with Amazon, Trigo or AiFi technology.
Iki, Lithuania’s second largest supermarket chain, has opened its second cashierless supermarket in Vilnius after a successful pilot project – The Retail Optimiser reported. The new Iki Express 24/7 store is located on Vilnius’ famous White Bridge, which connects the Old Town with the main shopping district. At 95 square metres, Iki’s Express 24/7 White Bridge store is twice the size of Iki’s first cashierless shop and offers more than 1,000 items.
Iki plans to operate up to four such autonomous stores across Lithuania by the end of 2023. With Pixevia’s technology, retail customers use any payment card, phone or watch wallet or a retailer’s mobile app at the shop door to enter the store. They can take items and put them back without having to scan them. Shelf sensors and in-store camera video streams provide data to Pixevia’s AI platform, which analyses what the customer has selected.
Shopping is displayed in real time
According to Pixevia, shoppers receive the entire item list of their shopping basket in real time – in contrast to stores equipped with Amazon, Trigo or AiFi technology, where customers only see their electronic shopping basket in the form of their receipt well after they have finished shopping, and not in real time while they are shopping.
At Iki Lietuva, Pixevia says the customer receives the receipt also immediately after paying, before leaving the store. The AI platform also automatically notifies shop employees about goods that need to be replenished on the shelves and predicts whether a reorder is needed, it says.
Scanless for the entire assortment
The Pixevia platform supports the Iki Express 24/7 store’s entire range of products, including bakery, coffee machine, slush drinks, chilled food, ice cream, hygiene products, beer, wine, energy drinks and tobacco products. According to Pixevia, customers can enter and exit the store within 15 seconds. Food may also be warmed up, eaten at a special food counter and paid for only when leaving the store. Customers can immediately put all goods into their own bags – a conventional shopping basket is unnecessary.
“In February last year, we opened the first autonomous store in the Baltic and Nordic countries. This AI-driven outlet has proven to be extremely successful, attracting new customers and demonstrating exceptional accuracy,” says Nijolė Kvietkauskaitė, CEO of Iki Lietuva: “After a thorough evaluation of the technology, we have now opened a second store with an expanded product selection. The successful use of this autonomous shopping technology means that we will also consider integrating it into larger stores in the future.”
