Photo: Maya Legotin
The Israeli company WalkOut, which has developed a smart shopping cart, has announced that it has signed an extensive cooperation agreement with the market warehouse chain, one of the largest marketing chains in Israel. Under the agreement, the chain will implement the fully autonomous fund in all 62 branches and their deployment will begin as early as next month.
The WalkOut trolley offers a revolution in the shopping experience that addresses the two main challenges that retail chains face in the physical buying process: the first is related to standing in long queues at the checkout and the second is the inability to create a personalized shopping experience tailored to each customer. Although 61% of shoppers would prefer to purchase brands that also have a physical location, over 70% of shoppers report that standing in line for checkouts is frustrating and detracts from the shopping experience. In response, although in recent years independent checkout lines have been introduced in the marketing networks, in fact, until this development of WalkOut, a system has not been developed that accompanies the customer throughout the entire purchase, which also saves waiting times at the checkouts.
WalkOut’s smart cart is based on machine learning and computer vision technology that provide the most accurate product identification solution currently on the market. It presents innovation thanks to its modular assimilation ability and its assembly on existing carts, so in addition to its technological differentiation it is a huge advantage of the product also in the level of economic savings for the networks. This cart is based on cameras located at different angles that allow scanning and accurate identification of the items that the buyer adds, or removes from the cart with an accuracy of 99.2 percent.
The WalkOut stroller includes a large interactive touch screen that communicates with the buyer and offers a variety of customized recommendations that make every purchase economical and accurate. This system also identifies repeat customers and updates on promotions and supplementary information based on the history and location of the buyer. Thanks to its unique algorithms, it will be able to use the accumulated knowledge about the customer’s buying habits including components that he seeks to avoid. This unique cart serves as a mobile cash register that allows you to pay for the shopping cart quickly and conveniently. The carts themselves are networked with cameras that detect the products that come in and are removed from the cart so that they automatically go into the final account and all that is left for the customer is to pay and leave.
“Connecting to one of the largest retail chains in Israel is an exciting opportunity and an important milestone for us,” said Assaf Gedalia, CEO and co-founder of WalkOut. Futuristic and personal and at the same time preserves the customer’s privacy. ”
“As a chain that advocates innovative technologies, we wanted to offer our customers significant savings in waiting times at the checkouts and provide a more personal, accessible and efficient shopping experience,” said Shalom Naaman, CEO and owner of the market warehouse chain. “The WalkOut solution will significantly shorten the length of stay in the branches, help maximize our operational efficiency and allow us to offer a unique, one of the most advanced shopping experience in the world.”
About the market warehouse chain
The Market Warehouse chain is a leading marketing chain owned and managed by the Naaman and Cohen families, which was first established in 1996 in the city of Beer-Sheva. The chain currently has 62 branches nationwide from Safed to Eilat.
In 2019, the chain acquired the operations of the Co-op chain, thus becoming one of the largest and leading marketing chains in the country. Co-op branches have been converted into “Market Warehouses for You” branches.
The chain operates an advanced and accessible trading site in parallel with its branches, as well as offering an independent wincard + credit card in cooperation with max, which combines general benefits with the chain’s promotions. Market Warehouses, operates a strong and active customer club with over 400,000 loyal customers.
Market Warehouses, is the main sponsor of the football team – “Hapoel Beer Warehouses Beer Sheva”.