Waitrose Trials AI Smart Trolley with Shopic

The Shop-E device displays item prices, keeps a real-time total, and verifies products with back-facing cameras, allowing Waitrose shoppers to pay directly on the device instead of queuing at checkouts.

Waitrose has brought in innovative smart trolleys powered by artificial intelligence, which keep track of products as shoppers pick them off the shelves. The ‘Shop-E’ system is powered by handlebar-type devices made by software firm Shopic, which customers can pick up from a charging bank at the entrance.

A Waitrose spokesperson said, “This works in a similar way to our scan, pay, go handsets, with a bigger screen, that identifies every item placed into or removed from the cart, and with a real-time tally of products and prices so shoppers can keep track of purchases.”

A shopper can release one of the units after scanning their My Waitrose loyalty card, and then clip it onto a regular trolley to begin the shop. 

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Customers then scan the barcodes on items – similar to how they would with a self-scan handset now offered by some retailers – before placing them in the trolley.

People must weigh loose produce at one of the store’s in-aisle scales and scan the barcode. Bakery products need to be chosen from the device’s screen before being placed in the trolley, while reduced goods need their yellow stickers scanned.

The device also displays the cost for each item as it goes in and gives a running total on the large touch screen as shoppers make their way around the store. Once the item is in the trolley, back-facing cameras verify the product, and shoppers can pay on the device at the end rather than having to wait in line at a checkout.

The spokesperson added, “We’re exploring options for more frictionless payment for our customers, while still maintaining conventional checkouts for customers who value interaction with our partners.”

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