Independent Edeka merchants Max and Robert Aschoff are testing the further developed version of the digital shopping cart with KBST’s ScanBox 2.0 in their store in Kassel, Germany. The new solution features a wide-angle camera that makes scanning errors visible by showing the customer a video sequence in real time, alerting them to any mistakes they may have made. KBST plans to launch the next generation of its smart shopping trolley with this helpful new feature in the second half of 2025.
The Retail Optimiser team had the opportunity to test KBST’s innovation on site and talk to customers and staff. Max and Robert Aschoff are shareholders in KBST and are passionate about driving the further development of the technology. The new generation of KBST’s smart trolley is now rolling in their store in Kassel for the first time.
The newly developed ScanBox 2.0 from KBST, which is also used in the Expresso SmartShopper, has a camera integrated into the tablet PC that permanently records the purchase, with the recordings being overwritten every ten seconds. If the load cells attached to the shopping trolley detect a deviation in the weight of the scanned goods from the master data stored in the system, the video sequence being recorded at that moment is not overwritten.
New solution creates transparency for customers and reduces employee workload
In this case, the video is played on the display to alert the customer to the possible error. In addition, the LED indicators on the tablet that are integrated for the first time in the new version of the smart trolley flash red, while an acoustic signal from the speakers draws the customer’s attention to the mistake.
“In the past, our employees had to intervene repeatedly because customers did not understand that an error had occurred during scanning,” explains Max Aschoff, Managing Director at Edeka Aschoff and Co-Founder of KBST. Without understanding the exact nature of the problem, customers could not continue shopping and needed assistance from staff to correct the error, for example by re-scanning the correct product.
Joint control at the checkout
“This not only led to long waiting times, but also put a strain on our staff, especially at peak times. With the new video function, customers can now understand and correct their own mistakes without the need for an employee to intervene,” says Max Aschoff: “This takes a lot of the pressure off our team and at the same time ensures a smoother purchasing process.”
Uncorrected errors are not reviewed until the checkout process, when a staff member can view the associated video sequence on the display together with the customer. In addition, shoppers can now place their bags in the trolley during their shopping trip without interrupting the process. In this case, they receive a video display of the situation and can mark the bag as a personal item, allowing the shopping process to continue smoothly.
Innovative process for freshly baked products
Final checks in this case are also carried out by staff at the point of payment. “Thanks to continuous video recording and weight checks, we can ensure that each item is correctly recorded. This helps us to reduce shrinkage and makes the process more transparent for our customers,” says Max Aschoff.
The process for recording fresh bakery products has also been further developed. The ‚Tüte Packen‘ (‘Bag packing’) function opens an intermediate basket when the barcode on the electronic price label (ESL) is scanned. The intermediate basket recognises how many items are in the bag based on the weight. Manual correction is still possible if necessary. Customers can either scan the ESL barcode or enter the PLU number to register loose fruit and vegetables.
KBST expands its portfolio
KBST is also planning to use vision recognition in the future. The AI models are currently still being developed and are trained using real purchases. The technology will then support the weighing cells built into the shopping trolley to identify scanning errors. However, Max Aschoff does not expect vision recognition to make the shopping trolley scales obsolete: “We will still need the weighing cells, because the camera can’t see through shopping bags or the like.” KBST sees vision recognition as a complementary technology that will make shopping even more intuitive.
The Edeka Aschoff supermarket in Kassel has a sales area of 2,000 square metres plus an 800-square-metre beverage store and offers its customers around 30,000 items. The first version of the intelligent shopping trolley, called SmartShopper, has been in use in this store since 2018. This solution was developed in collaboration with Expresso Germany, with KBST supplying the ScanBox technology and Expresso producing the shopping trolley.
KBST shopping carts are expanding their presence in Edeka and Netto stores
In addition to the SmartShopper for the Edeka Group, KBST has recently started offering a variant of the intelligent shopping trolley for the international market under the name ScanCart, which the Kassel-based company produces entirely by itself.
Around 3,300 KBST trolleys are now in use in almost 200 stores in all Edeka regions except Minden-Hannover. More than 10 Netto stores across Germany are also currently testing the technology. The Edeka-owned discounter has also integrated its customer app into the system and is testing the option of paying directly at the trolley.
Edeka Minden-Hannover uses Pentland Firth
The Edeka region of Minden-Hannover is the only one in the group to use the Easy Shopper from KBST competitor Pentland Firth. The Retail Optimiser reported.
