Intel Powered Self-Checkout Grocery Stores Are The Future

The pandemic has forced us to rethink our interactions with each other. This is why businesses have adopted contactless interactions like WFH and remote working environments to help maintain day-to-day operations. But offloading most menial tasks to computers does have advantages beyond the pandemic.

Businesses can focus and improve on customer interactions where it matters. Such is the case for Jilea and Jamie Hemmings, a couple who opened their Nourish + Bloom grocery store in Fayetteville, Georgia, USA. There, you won’t see any checkout lines or cashiers. Instead, the store relies on 30 ceiling cameras and shelves with scales that track what customers pick up.

The moment customers walk out of the store with their selected items, their credit cards linked to the Nourish + Bloom app, are charged for said purchases. This is made possible through the use of Intel processors, visual pricing units and RealSense cameras.

These systems offer computer vision, on-site analytics, advanced freezer/chiller temperature tracking and a self-checkout option for businesses that need them. Besides contactless interactions, this setup allows smaller businesses to operate with fewer personnel, but without sacrificing efficiency.

Jilea and Jamie came up with this idea for their store during the pandemic. At the time people wanted to avoid in-person interactions as much as possible. It made sense to build a business that allowed customers to buy what they wanted without worrying about getting infected.

The business couple put their background in tech and food industries to use and created a grocery store that uses innovative tech to streamline the buying experience. Jamie says that in our post-pandemic world, 87% of consumers still prefer to shop with touchless or self-checkout options.

Chris O’Malley, director of marketing in Intel’s Internet of Things Group thinks that we could be witnessing the future of customer interactions. These new systems offer a faster and more convenient experience because it negates the need for scanning, bagging and taking money.

Business owners and their employees get to focus their efforts on talking with customers or tending to other aspects of the business. This, he claims, is akin to the effect the modern ATM has had on the banking sector. Instead of having to waste time entering a bank to withdraw money, you can access the ATM machine instead.

This allows the bank staff to spend more time with customers on more pressing matters, while negating the need for an army of personnel to be stationed on the premises. This goes to show that technology isn’t going to replace us, instead it will allow us more time to focus on things that truly matter.