Kroger and Microsoft Pilot Digital Shelving Displays

Photo credits: Microsoft

The US retailer Kroger opts for Microsoft’s Azure Cloud infrastructure to test smart shelving displays adjusting to their consumers’ profiles and reducing the amount of time required to choose articles.

These new services will be tested in two pilot stores near the companies’ headquarters in Cincinnati (Ohio) and Redmond (Washington).
Overall objective: Digitise Kroger’s sales spaces and organise their response to Amazon and Walmart.
How it works?
- Through Kroger’s app the customer adds products to his list and an avatar to be paired with his profile
- When walking through the store and passing by one of his listed products, the digital tag below the considered article shows his avatar
- Kroger relies on image recognition technologies as well as on weight sensors to define when products are picked up from the shelves
- Products’ prices can be adjusted in real time based on customers’ profiles, consumption analytics and featured offers
For employees: This new system is a means to monitor inventories and shelf stocking, improve ordering processes, while also save time on product picking.
These smart shelves are connected to Microsoft’s Azure Cloud infrastructure. They can also display targeted ads when customers are relying on Kroger’s self-checkout app.
Kroger does not yet explain how the checkout step unfolds but it could be carried out in-app.

Part of the technologies designed by Microsoft have already been rolled out in 92 Kroger supermarkets. However, the point remains to craft a new system to be implemented throughout the retailer’s locations (roughly 2,780 points of sale).
Meanwhile, the US retail group also announced they were planning to develop a Retail-as-a-Service business for the sake of meeting their growth objectives. They are hoping to achieve $400M in operating profit by 2020.

In June 2018, Microsoft announced they were also working on a system reminiscent of Amazon Go, but based on less expensive technologies. This vendor already managed to attract several retailers such as Walmart, Macy’s and Ahold Delhaize.
In Japan, Panasonic is currently working on a technology similar to the one considered by Kroger, involving real-time analyses and customer-based adjustments to products’ prices. This group is also testing smart shopping carts in one of Trial’s stores.

Category : Alertes quotidiennes